Running with horses: Week Summary (9-15 July)

Monday

Am - 15km (Road) ~210m. 1:16

Tuesday

Am - 18.4km (Road) ~230m. 1:33

Pm - 9.2km (Road) ~90m. 0:44

Wednesday

Rest

Thursday

Am - 18.4km (Road) ~230m 1:28

Friday

Am - 18.4km (Road) ~230m. 1:32

Saturday

Am - 15km (Road) ~210m. 1:14

Sunday

Pm - 37.7km (Trail) ~700m. 3:39

Total distance: 132.1km
Total time: 11hr26mins
Average speed: 5.19 min/km

It's been a wet week indeed in Glasshouse Mountain. I know there was no way I would run in the trail and get my feet trapped in the muddy soil. So i decided to do some road-running instead. I was feeling really strong throughout the week, averaging more than 15km per day. Many years ago, one full hour of running would mean a great deal to me and I rarely ever ran a full hour in any day. If i did, it would be a great achievement and i would spend the next few days resting. But now, one hour just seems only like a warm up session to me. I hardly broke into sweat and my heart felt like it has just completed stretching and ready to go into a full workout.

I think i have definitely grown as a runner.

Time passes really quickly when i am out running. The surrounding trees just seem to move in the same rhythm, the ground moves underneath my feet, the sun brightens up my gloomy skin, and the wind gives me the much-needed push in my uphill surge. My mind is able to still itself, filtering out the unnecessary noise coming from within and without, and allowing the internal tension and burden of the yester-days to find some peace and solace. There are times where i question the utility of such exercise, coz my mind is not put in active use. It is very much like sitting on a rock on top of a mountain with my eyes closed and hands in my lap for hours. The pious side of me tends to undermine such inward-seeking, self-absorbed kind of exercises, as it promotes an unhealthy focus on self and the mind is not actively engaged with the world. It just does not serve any good to anyone other than myself. On the other hand, running is a much-needed escape for me to connect with God through His creation. After a long day at work and dealing with difficult patients and bosses, I just want to get out there and feel the warmth of the sun again.

I don't know how to explain to people about my running. And i must admit that often it feels like a very selfish thing to do. The time that i spend in running could definitely be spent in say, helping in children's home, reading the bible from cover to cover, or even brushing up my medical knowledge and skills. Eric Liddel - the Olympic gold medalist who is renowned for abandoning his favourite event 100m coz it was held on Sunday and opted instead for 400m (which is an event he hardly ran for), and won it, said: 'I feel God's pleasure when i run.' I cannot emulate his level of faith but I can definitely identify with what he said. I feel God's pleasure when i run. I feel Jesus running next to me, telling me that He loves me, encouraging me when i am down, and sometimes, telling me when to stop and run home. I don't feel His presence all the times. Sometimes i don't feel His presence at all. But whenever i do, my spirit becomes alive!

To cap it off, I want to end with Eric Liddel's quote, after winning his 400m gold medal in

You came to see a race today. To see someone win. It happened to be me. But I want you to do more than just watch a race. I want you to take part in it. I want to compare faith to running in a race. It's hard. It requires concentration of will, energy of soul. You experience elation when the winner breaks the tape - especially if you've got a bet on it. But how long does that last? You go home. Maybe you're dinner's burnt. Maybe you haven't got a job. So who am I to say, "Believe, have faith," in the face of life's realities? I would like to give you something more permanent, but I can only point the way. I have no formula for winning the race. Everyone runs in her own way, or his own way. And where does the power come from, to see the race to its end? From within. Jesus said, "Behold, the Kingdom of God is within you. If with all your hearts, you truly seek me, you shall ever surely find me." If you commit yourself to the love of Christ, then that is how you run a straight race.