One of the best times of the year to run is definitely the winter! Now, most people probably would think of this time of sleet and muscle pulling wonderland would be the best time to run indoors. But before you hit that treadmill, consider the possibilities of growth and challenge.
Winter is NOT my favorite time of year, but when it comes to running, I realize that it's the necessary evil to help give you the extra edge for the coming track season. One of the best training tools you can get during the winter is the most common. SNOW! Snow gives the ultimate resistance training for a runner who can stand the cold. The slippery roads, the usual wind that allows the wonderful frozen water to attack our faces and lungs, and the accumulation on the bottoms of our already wet feet turn boys into men. The wind that usually comes with Midwestern and Northeastern winters is also a great training partner. My advice for that is to begin your run into the direction of the wind to give you the resistance when you are still fresh and can handle it. Then when your turn around, you will get the wonderful feeling of easy running with the wind behind your back. It also warms you up.
Make sure that you BUNDLE UP during this time. I usually wear my Nike skull-cap, running tights, and a lighter jacket. Depending on if your hands get cold too it's always a good idea to keep gloves in your pockets. The main thing is to do what you need to for the winter is to stay warm and safe during your runs. If you can't stand the cold, don't give up. Run inside on a treadmill, but also try to take a walk outside.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Time for God
"Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. This is the first and greatest commandment." Matthew 22: 37-38. We all have heard this, and some of us may even have it memorized, but who really lives it? If we take the Bible at face value, which I try to, I fail miserably at this. Loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength means that we have to give him everything, including our time and devotion.
Quiet time. This is one of the most contradictory things that Christians try to participate in. The purpose of a quiet time is to spend our time reading, and praying to the God of the universe. But we usually try to give the minimum amount of time we can so that it won't effect the rest of our day. We don't give him as much time as we can. And this is another misunderstanding. Christians don't HAVE to be sitting in a room by themselves to be loving God and talking to him. In Corinthians, Paul talks about doing everything for the glory of God. Spending time with God can be as simple as thanking him for giving us another day to live, or asking him for help on a school assignment, or during work, or out on a run when we are starting to get tired. God knows that he is glorious. He doesn't need US to tell HIM. We NEED to tell Him that he deserves everything to remind us every day that he is the most important, and that despite what the world says, we can make time for Him at any point during our day. If we can't do this, we end up living as though He isn't there, and that causes us to disobey him. To love him with everything we have means we have to put forth the effort that we do when we run, or probably even more!
Quiet time. This is one of the most contradictory things that Christians try to participate in. The purpose of a quiet time is to spend our time reading, and praying to the God of the universe. But we usually try to give the minimum amount of time we can so that it won't effect the rest of our day. We don't give him as much time as we can. And this is another misunderstanding. Christians don't HAVE to be sitting in a room by themselves to be loving God and talking to him. In Corinthians, Paul talks about doing everything for the glory of God. Spending time with God can be as simple as thanking him for giving us another day to live, or asking him for help on a school assignment, or during work, or out on a run when we are starting to get tired. God knows that he is glorious. He doesn't need US to tell HIM. We NEED to tell Him that he deserves everything to remind us every day that he is the most important, and that despite what the world says, we can make time for Him at any point during our day. If we can't do this, we end up living as though He isn't there, and that causes us to disobey him. To love him with everything we have means we have to put forth the effort that we do when we run, or probably even more!
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
The Value of Your Feet
The most important thing you can take care of as a runner are your feet. Almost every injury that people get during or because of their running has to do with something wrong with your feet. Common problems that could cause problems with your running:
- The wrong kind of shoes! There are lots of types! Don't EVER just buy shoes because of the way they look or how much they cost. If you get seriously hurt because you bought cheap shoes, I can guarantee the doctor bill will more than make up the difference.
- Motion Control: Shoes for people of a larger body frame, or medium frame who run a moderate amount
- Stability: Shoes for smaller frame or medium frame people who have flat feet, high mileage, or both
- Neutral: Shoes for smaller frame or medium frame people who have decent arches, and have moderate weekly mileage
- The wrong size of shoes! Many newer shoes are supposed to be fit snugly or too big for your feet, but NOT running shoes. If your running shoes are either too loose or too tight, you WILL get blisters and you could get pain in your heels, arches, toes, and ankles.
- Not taking general care of your feet. Depending on your body frame or your weekly mileage, you will need to stretch out your feet and probably get them massaged. The arches and the back of your heels especially need taken care of. Damage to your heels and arches can cause problems in your ankles, knees, hips and pelvic region, and even the base of your skull.
To Live is Christ
"For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21. This is one verse that I wish I could live up to. To be able to love my God so much that it would be a hard decision whether or not I would want to live or die would be amazing. The need to fill the hole in our souls can only be satisfied by Christ, and even though most of us know that, we still choose to keep him away. The only way we can get to know him better is to spend time with him both in our prayer and in spending time with His Word in our hands.
The best thing about distance running is definitely the fact that it parallels so closely to our walk with Christ. Because it's all perseverance and hard work, we can learn lessons about our Christian walks that also require a lost of perseverance. I hate when people try to explain Christianity like it's supposed to be easy. As I've grown, I've realized that people don't fully explain what the commitment to Christianity is supposed to look like. It's like going to a race in XC without practice and expecting to win. Christianity is SUPPOSED to be hard. It's not just, "You say this prayer, God saves you, and then you go to heaven." You have to believe in your heart, and it should change who you are and how you act. We have to at least give people to ability to know that they will have to work hard to get the kind of relationship they need to have with the God of the Universe.
The best thing about distance running is definitely the fact that it parallels so closely to our walk with Christ. Because it's all perseverance and hard work, we can learn lessons about our Christian walks that also require a lost of perseverance. I hate when people try to explain Christianity like it's supposed to be easy. As I've grown, I've realized that people don't fully explain what the commitment to Christianity is supposed to look like. It's like going to a race in XC without practice and expecting to win. Christianity is SUPPOSED to be hard. It's not just, "You say this prayer, God saves you, and then you go to heaven." You have to believe in your heart, and it should change who you are and how you act. We have to at least give people to ability to know that they will have to work hard to get the kind of relationship they need to have with the God of the Universe.
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