I've got a bad case of the runs...

Ha. Not really. I probably wouldn't post that on here (unless maybe there were a funny story connected to it). No -- today I am all about RUNNING. All the runners I know like to talk about "their runs" which always makes me giggle (mostly because I'm a 12 year old in a 25 year old body), and think they probably have diarrhea much like the ass explosion depicted in Dumb and Dumber.

yeah, no. not that kind of runs. what i'm talking about is the blissful feeling running...ipod shuffling through 90s hip-hop (widely accepted as some of the best running music ever), heart pumping, mind racing, chest aching, muscles seizing......

ok, so here's the truth. i've been running for over a year at least twice a week (most weeks more like 4 days a week), and i still despise it. i hate being out of breath. i hate when my toes fall asleep bc my socks suck. i am probably the slowest runner in the history of existence (an old man in orthopedic shoes nearly passed me today...), most people actually walk at a faster pace than i run. the moment i start running my face gets super red and i look like i'm about to have a heart attack or something (even if i'm not even that out of breath). you get that like gooey spit business going on in the mouth region which is just super attractive. and there's really no escaping someone seeing you that way bc you either run outside in public or you run on a treadmill at a gym, where other people are (unless you're rich and have your own treadmill. which i do not). i can think of no greater humiliation than running up a hill by where i live, huffing and puffing, just praying that i don't trip, or have snot coming out my nose, or that no one notices that my chub possibly bounces as much as my boobs. (maybe an overstatement, but i'm slightly paranoid about it).

so why, you may ask, do i torture myself?? for the runner's high. and also to fit into my pants. oh yeah, and so i don't feel so bad about the 1/2 a bag of chips and salsa i consumed last night (or entire medium pizza..or french fries...you get the picture). bc the resulting benefits outweigh the costs. while i don't always like the feeling of running, it gives me a chance to clear my mind. and when i'm done i feel great. while i hate feeling out of breath, i love the way i breathe after a long run and the feel of hot shower water afterward. and a good long stretch.

the great thing about running as a form of exercise is it's all within you. you can go as fast as you want, as far as you want, for as long as you want. i think so often we fail at diets and exercise bc we see jillian michaels or that crazy man-lady on fit-tv lifting 45 pounds and jumping 6 feet into the air and shouting at us, and we think we have to start so big and do so much and we'll never be like them (and then we console ourselves with ice cream...or in my case, french fries). when you run, it's all about you and your ability to keep pushing yourself. i've learned a lot about my self-speak since i started running. i am simply an expert at coming up with great excuses to not exercise. i'm such an "instant gratification" person in a lot of ways. i do what feels good at the moment. running has helped me to train myself to think more long term. i want to look hot in my bikini. ergo, i run 5 miles and eat yogurt. 

now. all i've got to do is apply that logic to Greek exegesis, and it's game-set-match.

the other thing...and i know i'm going on forever here...is that running really clears my mind. when i'm having a particularly crappy run, i begin to pray over and over again hebrews 12.1-2: Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. running is a great metaphor for my life at seminary and as a follower of Christ. it might feel icky sometimes, but the resulting benefits far outweigh the discomfort.

and so...i pray that you also get a bad case of the runs :)