Runners Remorse

Hey look, two posts in as many weeks. Three weeks from now I'll look at this post and give myself a well-deserved face-palm for not posting again in all that time. (I say that to call myself out before I drop the ball in hopes of goading myself into staying on top of things.)
I'm trying to push myself in a number of ways this summer. Over the last year I have been challenging myself to exercise on a semi-regular basis. A large portion of that exercise has been running. At the start of the year (I tend to think and speak in school years since that is really the only year that actually matters in my life) I was warming up with a little over a half mile. Before too long I had eased myself--as if any of this was easy--into a regular three mile warm up almost every time.
It's hard to push yourself without some kind of goal. Eventually I began considering the local run that takes place in June. I didn't know how long it was, but at least I would have something to work toward. So, here I am looking at the possibility of running 6.2 miles by the middle of June (that's 10 Kilometers for all you actual runners). In the process of preparing for this eventuality two weeks ago I took advantage of some great weather and hit the gravel roads for about five miles on two separate days. This is what I learned.
I still don't enjoy running. For years I've heard runners talk about how great running is, how freeing and relaxing it can be, how wonderful the endorphin kick makes you feel. Well, I'm here to tell you that endorphins lie. Do you know what endorphins are meant to do? They raise your pain threshold. So while you are out there struggling to push your physical limits your endorphins are whispering to your brain, "pay no attention to that dull throb in your legs and the heaving pain in your chest and gut. What's that? Your hands are going numb? I'm sure it's nothing. Just keep going. You'll be fine." LIARS! An hour or two later when the endorphins have retired for the day, your body suddenly starts to feel that pain threshold drop really fast.
Okay, maybe I'm being a bit over dramatic. Although it is pretty much true for the first few times you exercise any group of muscles. After a while the let down isn't quite so painful.
I'll admit that I like the idea of being able to run for miles on end. I like to be able to say that I ran three of four miles. I like knowing that I am in shape to some degree. But I still don't enjoy running. Give me a swimming pool and I'll swim laps any day over running.
The second thing I learned came to me in the first half mile of my second five mile run. As I was jogging along thinking about all the ups and downs of the road and imagining the far off point where I would eventually turn around and begin my return trip, the following thought popped in my head:
Couldn't that turnaround point show up a little sooner? I'm already out here putting in the effort. Shouldn't that be enough? Why should it take forty or fifty minutes. Haven't I put in enough work this year to make this go faster?
If only that was how life really worked. So many things in my life would be totally different right now if the results arrived immediately after the initial effort. How many times have I turned to God to hand over areas of my life to him and expected him to generate changes in those areas within the week, month, or even year. There have been times when those changes have taken place within what I would consider a reasonable or even expedited time frame. But there are so many other areas where I am still waiting, praying, and hoping for God to do something with it. Come on! I'm putting in the effort. I'm out here running the race. Shouldn't that be enough? Can't you see how committed I am and just move the finish line a little closer?
But that is not how running works, and that is not how God works. God knows how far away the finish line is set. He knows that anyone can start a race, though many choose not to (something I am tempted to choose every time I start a run). He knows that the best prize is not for those who put in a great start, but for those who persevere to a humbling finish. That is why, as much as I may at times wish that God would honor my initial effort, my greatest aim is to honor him with my continued and completed submission and service.
The nice thing about submitting to God is that even though the path is fraught with troubles, pains, and frustrations, he also blesses us with tremendous joys, pleasures, and life along the way. I can't say the same about running because endorphins lie.