Running in God's Beautiful Wilderness

I had the opportunity to run in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park on the 28th.  I ran on the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail.  It is a one lane road that is closed during the winter.  Being that it is closed to cars it makes for a quiet run in the woods.

While I was running I had views of many creeks and cascades.  This reminded me of God's gift of Jesus and how Jesus is the Living Water.

As I ran I was reminded of God's great beauty.  I love the world he has made for us. 

 In some places there were still some snow on the ground from a few weeks ago.

I didn't see any people during my run and I liked that.  I did see these residence of the Great Smoky Mountains

I have to thank God for letting me run and allowing me the opportunity to run in his wilderness.

Run Your Race

Hebrews 12:1

Running with God Cures the Winter Blues

Do you have Seasonal Effective Disorder?  Sometimes this is also called Seasonal or Winter Depression. Some people call it cabin fever.  If you have this affliction I have the cure for you.  As winter comes the days start getting shorter and we get less and less sunlight.  I find this somewhat depressing myself but I know that Spring will come.  In the mean time there are things that can be done to prevent this depression.  Praying and running are two great ways to keep your sanity during the winter time.

Praying can help with our mental stability.  Being close to God will help lift our spirits each day regardless of the season.  The more we are in communion with God the better we can see the beauty in the world around us.  God loves us and the more we talk and walk (or run) with him the more we feel his love and presence.

Our winter time depression may also come from chemical changes in our brain due to lack of sunshine. There are chemicals in our brain that are released as we spend time in the sun.  Many of these chemicals regulate our body functions and mood.  One specific chemical that is released in our bodies because of sunshine is Vitamin D.  There is some thought that low levels of Vitamin D leads to fatigue.  If you are able to run during the winter this will expose your body to more sunshine and help release chemicals that help with our energy level.  Activity also helps release endorphin.  Endorphins help us feel more energetic and give us a natural high as when people say that have a runners high.

If praying helps prevent the winter blues and running helps us feel more energetic just think of the powerful effect of doing them at the same time.  This could be your best winter yet!

God's gift of sunshine

Autumn canopy

Beautiful country road

*Running tip - Be prepared to run during the cold weather.  I have several long sleeve shirts of different thicknesses.  I often wear a thick running jacket with pockets.  I like the pockets because I can put my phone inside and listen to my christian running playlist.  I also have gloves for running and a sock hat.  If I warm up I can take these off and put them in my pocket.  When it is real cold I will wear a face mask. Running clothes can be expensive but are often made well enough to use for years.  My present running paints are in great shape and I have had them for about 5 years.  Also Christmas is only 51 days away and running gear can make for great gifts.

The Sweet Smell of Sin

I am fortunate to have a lot of routes I can run.  Some of my routes take me through neighborhoods and others take me out on rural Indiana county roads.  I have a few that take me by beautiful lakes.

Remember Jesus gives us living Water

When I am running I love the fresh smell of the outdoors.   I love to take in the environment around me.  Some times my nose will smell fall leaves or spring flowers.  During my last run I had the sweetest smell of any run.  It was so strong I had to turn my head and find out where it was coming from and this is what I saw.

The smell was urinal cake.  This is often how sin works.  Sin may seem so inviting and fulfilling but in the end it leads to death and destruction.  Don't be fooled.

*Running Tip - Don't be a slave to your watch.  Often people get so concerned by how fast they are running.  The first thing I think you should do is to enjoy running.  Some runs should be just for enjoyment.  If you are someone who is always looking at their watch and the only good runs are when you are happy with your times then maybe you should run without your watch on occasion.  Also you are risking injury if you are always pushing yourself.

Runners High or Spiritual High?

Early Morning Western Clouds

Early morning run.  Started at 6:00 in the dark.  I had my light and Jesus with me this morning.  Spent some good time in prayer and talking with the Lord.  It was a good work out this morning.  At the end of my run I was breathing fast and very tired.  I ended with a familiar filling, but I am not sure if it was a Runners High or a Spiritual High.  I have had a runners high before.  It usually happens for me at the end of a long run or at the end of a hard work out that went well.  I have read that the runners high comes from endorphins that are released in our bodies during exercise.  I have also read that it is from lack of oxygen to the brain.  What ever the reason it is a great feeling.  I have also had the same feeling when I have had a every blessed run.  On some of those runs when I feel close to the Lord I get a great feeling that comes over me.  I have had many runs that ended with my hands over my head because I had to catch my breath, but I have also ended a few runs with my hands over my head praising the Lord.  I am reminded of Ryan Hall's book "Running with Joy".  He has been very successful in his running career and holds the american record for the half marathon, but his best runs are when he is with the Lord.

* Running tip - If you want to increase your distance do it slowly.  If you make to large of an increase you are more likely to get hurt.  Sometimes instead of increasing by the mile you may want to just increase by a few minutes at a time.

Running towards the Son

Perfect running weather today.  63 degrees and no wind.  This was the view as I ran along the Ohio River this afternoon.  Easy relaxed run today as I ran towards the sun.  I had my cross around my neck and christian music playing from my phone.  I was reminded how lucky I am to have Jesus in my life.  One of the songs I was listening to today was Every Good Thing by The Afters.  It is a praise song that gives thanks to God.  The chorus goes "Your the reason for every good thing, every heart beat, every time we get to breath".  I often know I am not thankful enough for what God has done in my life, but what if I were thankful for every time I get to breath?  Wow, that would be a powerful statement.  I do want to thank God for being in his presence today as I ran.

* Running tip - To prevent injury try stretching or Yoga 2-3 times per week.  15-20 minutes each time will make you more flexible and more resistant to injury.  It may even make you faster.

Running with Rain

Today was a wet run.  Light rain throughout my short run.  But as they say "into each life some rain must fall."  I think rain is what we make of it.  We can ruminate about it.  We can constantly have it on our minds but all that is going to do is slow us down.  I think the best way to deal with it is to understand that it is going to happen sometimes and make the best out of our situation.  I could have not ran this evening.  I had plenty of other reasons not to run, but where would that have gotten me.  Sometimes running in the rain makes us stronger.  This is so applicable to our lives.  Being in Christ doesn't promise us a perfect life but when life brings us rain we have Christ to be there to help us through each situation.  Even when it is raining the Son is still there we just cannot see him.  We must have faith that it he there.

* Running tip - wearing a running cap when it is raining does a great job of keeping the rain out of your eyes.

Amazing Grace

Today I left the house as the sun was coming up.  My run today was a negative split 6 miles.  Each mile I try to run faster then the last.  The first part of my run was easy so I had a chance to think about my run the day before.  Yesterday I ran with my daughter Grace.  That lead me to think about Gods grace.  He you ever been given a gift that you didn't expect or didn't deserve?  Think about how that made you feel.  It is a great feeling to have someone care about you enough to give you something that they didn't have to.  This is what God did for us.  He Gave us his Son Jesus Christ out of love.  He didn't have to give us that gift and we definitely didn't deserve it.

Today as I ran I thanked God for his never ending Grace.

* Running tip - Always tie your shoe in a double knot.  Sounds basic but who wants to stop and tie your shoe during a run.

Change

This

Has changed to This

Fall in the Midwest can lead to dramatic changes.  Presently crops are being harvested and the views down many roads are changing drastically.  In a few weeks the leaves will be changing and then the grass will become brown.  These are all natural changes and continue to happen each year.  The only thing constant in life is change.  And so goes each of us.  Weather we realize it or not we are all changing.  It may be happening slowly.  The change may be so slow we don't realize it.  Maybe our families and loved ones don't realize it, but it is happening.  

The first question you should ask is if the change is positive or negative.  Are we becoming a force for good or are we falling into sin?  Are we doing things in our lives that make us better Christians?  If we are attending church, reading the bible, praying to God, and being in fellowship with other Christians we should be changing for the better.  If we are chasing things of this world and are worried about self fulfillment we are at risk of changing for the worse.

The greatest story of change is the story of Saul.  He was a Jew.  A Jew with power.  He hated the early Christians and persecuted them.  The word persecuted is to soft for what Saul was doing.  To be more to the point, he murdered Christians.  But God was able to change Saul.  He transformed him and gave him the new name of Paul.  Paul became a leading force in the early Christian church.  He is responsible for many of the books of the New Testament.  Let Paul be our example that we can change.  We can become a force for Jesus.

* Running tip - Keep your running fresh.  Make a change.  Sometimes we get into a rut and running may not seem like much fun.  That's when we need to make a change.  Try to run somewhere different.  Try running a different route.  Run with someone different.  Run at a different time.  Try to run off road.  Mix it up and have fun.

Easy Running

Great Midwest Early Fall Day

It was a long run today.  I was on the road for an hour and a half.  It was very relaxing.  I didn't have much on my mind and was very open minded.  I started out just praying for my family and then friends.  I had some time to pray for my office and church and many other people in my life.  Some days there is no plan or structure.  I just try to be open minded.  Sometimes just staying in connection with God can bring peace to my life.  I continue to pray each day that I will present myself as a living sacrifice to God each day.

*Running tip.  Increased sodium before runs may decrease cramps.

I have had some trouble with cramps and muscle strains in the last few years.  I wan't sure why this was happening but I may have found the answer.  During a long bicycle ride this summer one of the guys I was with had terrible muscle cramps.  I mean so bad he was off of the road laying in someones yard in the "happy baby" yoga pose.  He was given pickle juice and stretched.  He was able to ride in a few minutes and within about 20-30 minutes was completely back to normal.  He was able to ride the next 100 miles without any problems.  It made me think about my self, especially later in the ride when I had cramps for the last 30 miles.  As I have gotten older I have sweated more than I use to.  I often have salt on my cloths at the end of long runs or bike rides.  I drink a lot of Gatorade and thought that should do the trick.  I investigated the amount of sodium in Gatorade as compared to pickle juice and they are not even close.  Pickle juice has 10 times more sodium.  I don't like pickles so what could I do different?  I looked at many different foods and found that chicken noodle soup has a ton of sodium.  So today I had a can 1 hour before my run and it seemed to work great.

Talk to you later and keep Running with God.