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| Most of my teammates at our team dinner |
Today I am prepping for Hood to Coast, an epic relay race from Timberline Lodge, nestled high on Mt. Hood, to the ocean beach at Seaside, Oregon. Runners flock from all over the world to participate in this race. For the third year in a row, I have the distinct privilege of running as part of the Portland Running Company's all women team. It's a huge honor to put on the race team uniform and run for a company that has contributed so much to the running world in Portland.
With that uniform comes a responsibility to train hard and run fast. This year, I'm nervous about the "run fast" part. I spent the first seven months of this year rehabbing tendonitis in my knee. I watched all speed and distance I'd accumulated from two years of training hard dissipate with one slow, painful, short run after another. My knee did get better though and I've slowly been building back speed and stamina. I'm getting faster, but I'm not as fast I as I have been.
And then there's the training piece. My training has been interrupted by grief, sporadic asthma, and Life Stuff. So often this spring and summer, I've had a plan, then scrapped it because Life decided to turn things all cattywampus. I'm training hard, but not in the predictable, routine way that I prefer. Normally I head into a race with weeks of consistent training behind me and a hard and firm pace that I know I can run. This year, I've got a semi-confident guesstimate. If there's anything I've learned from training this summer, it's to hold everything loosely and to be kind to myself mentally. This summer God has given me so many opportunities to practice training my mind and for that, I'm grateful for every hard, wheezy mile.
Would I love to run a 7:00 minute pace this year again for my team? You bet. Is that going to happen? Nope. I'll be thrilled with a 7:20 average pace and that will be just as big of a stretch for me as the 7:00 minute pace from years previous. But what I can do is manage my mental space.
What am I telling myself?
Is it a garbage thought? Then throw it out.
Truth? Hold on to it.
The TRUTH is I am healthy. I am so thankful for legs that can run and lungs that can fuel my body with the oxygen I need, even when it's all wheezy. I'm still breathing. I'm still running.
The TRUTH is I have a strong mind. My body will do what my mind tells it to do.
So I will run my guts out, with the goal of spreading joy to those around me. I resolve to speak kindly to myself: to praise God when I want to complain, to tell myself "I can" when I want to say, "I can't," and to not care about my pace as much as I care about being a positive and hardworking teammate.
These truths apply to life, not just running. How often do we put too much emphasis on things, agendas or people that feel HUGE in the moment but in the grand scheme of life should not consume so much mental and emotional energy? When things don't pan out the way we hope or plan, we jump straight to mental defeat and shame. My friends.. this is not God's heart for us.
May I encourage all of us to embrace seasons of difficulty and challenge? Use these seasons of life to press into God and practice training your mind instead.
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is TRUE, whatever is NOBLE, whatever is RIGHT, whatever is PURE, whatever is LOVELY, whatever is ADMIRABLE - if anything is EXCELLENT or PRAISEWORTHY - think about such things." - Philippians 4:8
Tomorrow I will put on my PRC uniform with pride, run my guts out, and manage my attitude. I'm saying it out loud so you can all hold me accountable. And, to make our captain happy, I promise to GET IN THE VAN!!!!!!!!
See you on the flip side.
Running through life together... Jodi
Proud to have you on this team, proud to call you my friend.
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