When I Run

At the end of this month I will have been running for two years solid… well, solid with a few setbacks. To celebrate said milestone I’d like to borrow a somewhat famous line from the 1981 movie Chariots of Fire. The movie chronicles the real life story of Eric Liddell, a Christian from Scotland who came from a family of missionaries doing work in China. The now-famous quote is spoken when Liddell’s sister is chiding him because she feels that his running is becoming more important than his faith. His response is, “I believe that God made me for a purpose. But He also made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure.”

What beautiful words! And words that I have never uttered while running. When I run, I am actually not feeling anyone’s pleasure. Not God’s and least of all my own. So why bother? That is a question I have asked myself often on this journey. The above graphic is an honest demonstration (notice, you can’t spell that word without a demon). Running has been both a friend and a foe. This is going to sound very strange. Mostly, when I run, I am running against one of the oldest enemies… my own slothfulness.

So, when I run, I do gain the obvious health benefits. I’ve dropped a fair amount of weight and started playing some soccer again. I’m also putting together a team to start playing softball in a few weeks. When I run, I am gaining so much more, though. Running has been a form of therapy for me. No phone calls. No sales quotas. No pressure… except for me pushing myself to go harder. I’m working to feel my best ever at 50. I’m on the right path. That’s what I feel when I run.