Running a 5K

Hi, I'm sorry it took me so long to followup. I promised I would write about my first 5K. Now I have officially run my second 5K so I really have to follow through on my promise, and I will write about both 5Ks.

Yesterday was my 2nd 5K. This was again the Tallmadge (OH) Memorial 5K race. Two years ago I ran this race for the first time ever. Keep in mind I am totally not an athlete. This activity is simply for the purpose of staying in motion (bodies in motion stay in motion, bodies at rest stay at rest, simple physics.) Ever since I turned a certain age and started having trouble getting out of bed in the morning, I realized the wisdom of this statement.

This year my time was 5 minutes slower than that of 2 years ago, for which I will not apologize. I was accompanied again by my friend from church, and we got to talkin' during the race, and I just lost track of what was happening, and next thing I knew we were pullin' up the rear so to speak. But when we "came to" and realized that the oldest runner in the race, a 79 year old lady, was ahead of us, we knew we had to get to work. So we sprinted down the last stretch and we dusted that lady. whew! so 36 minutes and some odd seconds for our time this year.

Two years ago, my inaugural race, I had made a huge mistake. I thought I was being cool and I started running the race route ahead of time so as to get to know its little intricacies, etc. However being the novice that I am, I read the map wrong and I made the turnaround earlier than I was supposed to, so my pre-race times were excellent by virtue of running a short 5K. So on race day I had Erica and Tom running with me and when we got to the supposed turnaround, I..uh.. turned around. And my compadres informed me we were not to the turnaround yet. I was floored, devastated, stunned, hurt....and exhausted. I could not believe I had made such an egregious error in map reading. So we kept going and somehow, somehow, I ended up with a time of 31 minutes and some odd seconds. Google the 2009 race results and you'll see an official time, but you won't see the truth of the matter, that our church's elder and children's director had to basically pray me in to the finish line. it was so embarrassing. My tongue was hanging out of my mouth, face was beet red, and I thought I was gonna die. My bad. Next time I'll know better.

anyway this year it did go much better even though our times were slower. My goal was not to gain a better PR but to keep at it, just be diligent and keep in motion. I know that we are to run with endurance the race that is set before us. Paul tells us that. He fought the fight, he stayed in the race. He ran to win. But to finish is to win.

Many Christian athletes use the "running a race" analogy to talk about their faith. I love the metaphor. Really, the Christian life is not a sprint nor a 5K. It is a marathon. It is one foot in front of the other. It is to get back up when you fall. We did see a poor young lady who fell at the first turn and she was crying. Help was on its way but it still hurts when you fall down. And falls will occur. That was a good reminder.

So I like running/jogging/walking/racing as both a way to keep myself limber and as a reminder of my faith walk with Christ. I am grateful to those who walked/ran before me and showed me how to run the course. I need to remember to read the map correctly and to follow it. I need to not mis-read it and thus try to take any shortcuts. It's not a sprint. It's a marathon. Praise God for His Word!