Running with horses: Week summary (19-25 March)

Monday

Am - 21.6 km (425m elevation). Covering Mt Beerburrum (280m). 2:06

Tuesday

Rest

Wednesday

Pm - 12.8km (144m elevation). 1:07

Thursday

Rest

Friday

Am - 12.8km (144m elevation). 1:03

Saturday

Am - Mt Tibrogargan 3.5km (394m elevation). 0:47

Sunday

Pm - 26km (684m elevation). Covering Mt Beerburrum (280m) and Mt Ngungun (253m). 2:42

Total distance: 76.7 km
Total elevation: 1791m
Total time spent: 7 hrs 45 mins
Average speed: 6.06 min/km

It has been a tiring week for me. Work has been busy and draining as usual, and thankfully i managed to squeeze in some time to run in the midst of busy schedules. The final run today just completely sapped my energy, and i am happy to have finished the week well.

Once again as experts say, every third week should be a recovery week and focus should not be on mileage but other aspects of running eg strength training, cardio work-up (i.e speed training), and most important recovery. So this coming week I will have to drop the mileage slightly and spend a bit of time on strength training. Am going to do a combination of weights, plyometric and stationary exercises for all the important muscles required in running eg hamstrings, quads, calves, core muscles and a bit of arm muscles. Honestly, i dislike strength training. To me, lifting dumb bells is pretty much a narcissistic act of repetitive self obsession, for which most people either spend their time admiring their own bodies during the work-out in front of the mirror, or do so afterwards. Sturdy outward appearance with a shallow and fragile inner core. My only reason for doing this is because i don't want to get injured. Strength training has been shown to reduce injuries rate by a large proportion. Eg people with bigger calves muscles are less likely to get a shin splint because the shin bone (tibia) is well-covered and protected by the calf muscle (gastrocnemius).

Ok enough about running.

This week I have been thinking a lot of about the presence of God. Everyday we experience God in different ways. When i see babies wriggling in the cradles, and witness the most amazing miracle in the world, for which a sperm and an egg can result in such a delicate, irreproducible, biologically complex and psychologically unfathomable being, I can't help but to praise God for such creativity and workmanship in making us so fearfully and wonderfully well. When i see the beautiful mother nature for which He spoke into being, the rugged mountains, the huge diversity of vegetation and trees, the glorious sun, i can't help but to praise God for His incomparable artistic sense for painting the world the way it is. When i read a chapter of Psalm or a passage in the bible, i am reminded by God's everlasting love and engagement with His creatures throughout the history of mankind. Isn't it completely mind-boggling that this all-mighty, all-knowing God chose to love you and I who are nothing but a mere breath and a vanity?

You can reduce a human being down to a chain of chemical processes, a bundle of reflexes, or a collection of instincts. You can simply call the beautiful sunset a mindless work of nature. But you can't deny the fact that if there is Someone behind all of these, that whoever is responsible is a fierce and incomparable artist beside whom all human achievement and creativity dwindle as child's play.

I long to experience the presence of God everyday of my life. :)