Running with Endurance
"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so a great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set out before us..." --Hebrews 12:1
In the Army, when someone is a real go-getter, we call him or her "high-speed." As a society, our minds are bombarded with images and plans for things that are faster. Faster cars, faster computers, faster internet, faster communication, faster food, faster, faster, faster.
The writer to the Hebrews doesn't talk about running faster; he talks about running with endurance.
This is a real paradigm shift for me. I've always wanted to run faster. When I ran track, I ran quarter mile sprints. I would do my long endurance runs because my coach told me to, but I always wanted to run faster. Now that I am training for my first triathlon, I am shifting to a focus on endurance. There's a big difference.
As I chose a triathlon, I made a classic blunder. No, I didn't get involved in a land war in Asia, I under-estimated the task before me. I'm planning on doing the John Tanner State Park Triathlon on April 30. It's a 600 yd. swim, 11.2 mile bike, and 3.1` mile run. It's what is called a "sprint" triathlon. When I read that, I immediately thought, "Sprint! Yeah! That's me! Faster! Faster! Faster!" Plus, those distances weren't so intimidating. I can dog-paddle my way through 600 yds; my typical training ride is 15-20 miles; I can build up to 3.1 miles because I have done it before. I looked at these three things individually and said: "Each element of this triathlon is going to be easy." One problem: All these elements are back to back to back.
In order to complete all of these events, I'm going to need to be active for 60-90 min. probably. Going non-stop, grinding it out. Enduring. They guy who won the Ironman championships in Kona last October biked at an average pace of 24.1 mph, well below what Lance Armstrong will average over a stage of the Tour de France. He ran a 2:57 marathon, which wouldn't win a regular marathon. Bottom Line: These are not fast performances. The big difference for this guy is that within 5 min. of getting off the bike, he was running and kept running for almost 3 hours. He was in "racing mode" for over 8 hours. He endured.
So I know most of you non-athletes are tuning out right now, but here's the point I'm trying to make: our lives are not sprints. Life is often equated with a marathon; there's a cliche that says, "The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep on running." The point is that rarely can we focus on one minute in our life; we are constantly going from one thing, to another, to another and we're trying to do each thing as fast and as hard as we can. Remember Hebrews 12:1 :"...[L]et us run with endurance the race that is set out before us..."
As I review the resolutions I posted below, I realize that it's time to stop sprinting through life and it's time to start enduring. It's time to slow down, train for the long distance, and endure.
There's more I'd like to say about this verse, but I don't have time today. Look for another post tomorrow.
In the Army, when someone is a real go-getter, we call him or her "high-speed." As a society, our minds are bombarded with images and plans for things that are faster. Faster cars, faster computers, faster internet, faster communication, faster food, faster, faster, faster.
The writer to the Hebrews doesn't talk about running faster; he talks about running with endurance.
This is a real paradigm shift for me. I've always wanted to run faster. When I ran track, I ran quarter mile sprints. I would do my long endurance runs because my coach told me to, but I always wanted to run faster. Now that I am training for my first triathlon, I am shifting to a focus on endurance. There's a big difference.
As I chose a triathlon, I made a classic blunder. No, I didn't get involved in a land war in Asia, I under-estimated the task before me. I'm planning on doing the John Tanner State Park Triathlon on April 30. It's a 600 yd. swim, 11.2 mile bike, and 3.1` mile run. It's what is called a "sprint" triathlon. When I read that, I immediately thought, "Sprint! Yeah! That's me! Faster! Faster! Faster!" Plus, those distances weren't so intimidating. I can dog-paddle my way through 600 yds; my typical training ride is 15-20 miles; I can build up to 3.1 miles because I have done it before. I looked at these three things individually and said: "Each element of this triathlon is going to be easy." One problem: All these elements are back to back to back.
In order to complete all of these events, I'm going to need to be active for 60-90 min. probably. Going non-stop, grinding it out. Enduring. They guy who won the Ironman championships in Kona last October biked at an average pace of 24.1 mph, well below what Lance Armstrong will average over a stage of the Tour de France. He ran a 2:57 marathon, which wouldn't win a regular marathon. Bottom Line: These are not fast performances. The big difference for this guy is that within 5 min. of getting off the bike, he was running and kept running for almost 3 hours. He was in "racing mode" for over 8 hours. He endured.
So I know most of you non-athletes are tuning out right now, but here's the point I'm trying to make: our lives are not sprints. Life is often equated with a marathon; there's a cliche that says, "The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep on running." The point is that rarely can we focus on one minute in our life; we are constantly going from one thing, to another, to another and we're trying to do each thing as fast and as hard as we can. Remember Hebrews 12:1 :"...[L]et us run with endurance the race that is set out before us..."
As I review the resolutions I posted below, I realize that it's time to stop sprinting through life and it's time to start enduring. It's time to slow down, train for the long distance, and endure.
There's more I'd like to say about this verse, but I don't have time today. Look for another post tomorrow.
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