Week 2: Setting the Pace for the Race

What kind race did you run today? Take a minute to really think about this question. Was it a race to the grocery store to buy a week's worth of food? Was it a race to the bank to cash in your paycheck? Was it a race to clean the house, cook, and make sure your family was taken care of? Life is like a giant road race, and in order to perform well, a lot of physical and mental training is required. With my own experiences in road racing (both in the literal and figurative sense), I learned that the right type of mental training can either make or break your race.

This week's workout wasn't too different from last week: I was able to run an additional 30 seconds (hooray!), and added 30 seconds of walking. Each workout (there are 3 of them per week) has a Bible verse that I read before I run, then meditate on during and after my run. Workout 1's verse was from 1 Corinthians 9:24: "Do you know that in a race all the runners run, but only one get's the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize." I like how it goes on by saying, "Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." Wow, how often do we "beat our body and make it our slave"? Try using that phrase to describe to someone how hard you work!

Now notice how that verse said, "run in such a way to get the prize," not, "run to get the prize." I always had a goal for every race I trained for (I'm talking about literal running here): break 23 minutes in a 5K, keep up with a 7:30 minute pace runner, come in the top 25 to get a ribbon. If I didn't reach these goals, I would get frustrated, even if I felt great during the race. I was more focused on my outcome than my performance, and that didn't go over well with God--which might explain why He allowed all of those running injuries. He wanted me to develop the right mental attitude before I went back to running.

While I was running earlier this week, God went further with the verse and told me: "Just when you think you already have the prize, I have something better." Hopefully that makes sense to you. That one person who gets the prize strives for more than to get a fast time or good placement. Those types of prizes don't last forever. But the prize that does last is a winner's attitude--the fuel that will help sustain a good pace during life's race. Every time we toe the starting line, we won't know the outcome of our race no matter how hard we train, or what goals we want to reach. Of course God wants us to have goals, but He doesn't want us to think our race is done once we reach that goal. He wants us to always run as if we are winning, even though we may feel like we are in last place. Running isn't a game where there are winners or losers. I think running is a test of whether or not we can endure any physical and mental obstacle and still cross the finish line with sweat and smiles.

Always running with a winner's attitude isn't easy, especially when the prize seems to be nowhere in sight. There were many times during my road races, and even with my battle with anorexia, where I became tired and wanted to quit. But that was before God became my pacesetter. A pacesetter is defined as a runner or competitor who sets the pace at the beginning of a race or competition, sometimes in order to help another runner break a record. How perfect is that?! Even if you're not that into your faith as I am, know that there's always someone who's willing to be your pacesetter. Try not to become your own pacesetter, or you may find yourself (like I did) focusing more on just the prize rather than the progress of your race. 

I'll conclude with a verse that is actually the theme of the "Run for God" program: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" (Hebrews 12:1). This is what I think about when God is my pacesetter. He has given me my own "great cloud of witnesses" (family, friends, you, my blog readers) and told me to run without an agenda. And so far not one memory of a running injury or my eating disorder has held me back! I pray that the same type of success will happen in your own race.