Some people would not consider me a runner. I used to be. A few years ago, I ran 20–25 miles every week. Now I only go 12–15 miles a week. Every weekday, the alarm goes off at 5 a.m. and I lace up my sneakers and head for the track.
Two knee surgeries — football and an automobile accident almost a decade ago — left me with a left knee that swells if I run on concrete for three or four days in a row. So I satisfy myself with going in circles on the padded track of the local high school.
A statement by fitness guru Kenneth Cooper helped me make the change in how I was running. He said one could maintain physical fitness by running two miles in under 20 minutes at least three days a week. That was doable and it works. I am not in the greatest physical condition, but my resting heartbeat, blood pressure, triglycerides and such are pretty good.
Physical fitness is not the primary reason I run. Those minutes are precious times of prayer and praise. I pray for family, for co-workers, for friends, for the church I serve. Occasionally I just praise God. I have become so involved in prayer that I have lost count of the laps and kept on running until the prayer ended. Concentrating on God makes running easier. The body seems to shift into some automatic mode that just keeps on going. Only the clock testifies to how long one has been jogging.
I have had great spiritual highs on the track, not from the endorphins that exercise releases into the brain — I don’t run enough for that — but from the presence of God’s Holy Spirit.
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