So, what are you going to do now?

This was the question my husband asked me as I hobbled up the stairs yesterday.  My answer was, "Take a shower and then a nap."  That wasn't exactly what he meant, however, I was too brain dead to comprehend.

You see, I had just completed a marathon. My second, in fact.  This was the RunDisney marathon at Walt Disney World in Florida.  I had been training pretty much since the disastrous race in Melbourne eleven months ago, but I won't rehash that.  

If you've been a follower of my blog for any length of time, you know my story.  I love to run. I have had shoulder injuries, knee injuries, hip injuries, a broken toe, stomach flu, food allergies, and lost many toe nails.  Yet, I still run, still persevere.  Why?  I'm not really sure.  I like the competition but I'm not overly competitive.  I like to stay in shape, be healthy, but I'm not obsessive.  (My family may argue otherwise).  

I believe I run for the following reasons:
1.  Health.   I'm 47 years old and I want to stay active and enjoy a healthy life, live long enough to be able to play with my yet unborn grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
2. Prayer.  I began praying on my runs just to get me through the next mile.  As time went on and my runs became longer I incorporated prayer into my routine.  It became habit.  Two steps into my run my thoughts immediately start with, "Good morning God, beautiful day." I can pray for hours now.  In fact, 4 hours and 38 minutes.  
3. Thrill of the chase.  I'm a bit claustrophobic in crowds.  I always line up as far to the front as I can and often to one side or the other.  When the gun goes off, I go as fast as I can to get away from the crowd.  In doing this, I found it was kinda fun to pass people and zip in and out of traffic like a gazelle running through a herd of zebra.   My favorite races are those in which I am able to pick a person to pass and do so.
4.  Satisfaction and feeling of accomplishment.   My goal in a race is to a) beat my last time and b) be satisfied with the time.   B is really hard to attain because I always look back and think about what I could have done differently, should I have stopped at that water stop, tried to speed up even more at the finish, etc.   I start my running prayer with Good morning and finish each race with "Thank you Jesus!"  

 Deep down, I know God doesn't really care about who wins the race, however, as it says in Corinthians, he cares about winning the final race, the one that lasts forever.  This past week on my computer screen has been 1 Corinthians 9: 24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

On my wrist during the race were bands that read, "Can do through Christ."   This is a verse from Phillipians 4:13  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  

I suppose I run to be closer to God, to strengthen not only my physical body but my spiritual one as well.  When I'm in pain, whether from running or life in general, I turn to Him for strength.  When I succeed, it is God whom I thank.  When I fail, I still give him thanks and ask for strength and for lessons learned.  

So, what am I going to do now?  I'm going to turn to God and ask Him.  We'll let you know.