The Fear of the Long Run

I fear long runs. Every time I hear the words, "long run," I cringe. I just know in my heart that my long run is going to be a very LONG RUN. I dread them, but I want to love them. When my training plan says 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and even 8 miles, I am perfectly fine, but when I see those double digits my body immediately wants to sleep in and skip the run. 

Okay, okay, I will admit, I don't mind running half marathons, but only if they are races. Heck, I was even cool with running a 20k (15.5miles) during a race. My problem is the long distance training runs. The runs where my pace is much slower than race day and I have no one around me to keep me motivated. I don't have a crowd or fellow runners pushing me to keep going. 

I have let the long run beat me all year. It beat me down during my triathlon training and it's beating me down now. Honestly, I think the reason why it's beating me down is because until today I haven't faced my struggle. I haven't admitted to myself that I fear it. Instead of admitting the fear, I sleep in or do a shorter run, and then make a valid excuse on why it didn't get done.

When you don't admit or face a struggle in your life, it's very difficult to overcome. The struggle just lingers until it's faced. You can try to hide the struggle and you can deny it all you want, but it doesn't go away. 

Today I am facing my struggle. I am no longer going to be defeated by the long run. Yes, I may cringe a few times when I hear a double digit number followed by the word "long run," but I will overcome it. 

They only way I know how to face struggle is through prayer. Scripture says in 1 Peter 5:7 to "Give all your worries and cares to God because He cares for you." In Philippians 4:6 the Word tells us, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,  present your requests to God." Below is the prayer I will be praying about my struggle. Go ahead and put any of your struggles in the blank and pray this prayer with me. Together we can be overcomers! 

Dear God,

You are awesome! Thank You for Your goodness and mercy. 

In Your word You have told us to cast our worries upon You. 

I struggle with ________. I know I can overcome this with You. 

You are my strength. I seek Your help, strength, and guidance.

Thank You, Lord! I know I am victorious in all things through You.

In Jesus Name I pray,

Amen! 

"Dang! I'm Almost 30!" - Birthday Post

I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M 26!! The reason why I say this is because I have had so much fun making fun of my older cousins when they turned 26. As soon as my cousins turned 26 I told them, "Dang! You're almost 30!" I'm so glad my younger cousins don't tell me that! LOL!

God told me that 25 was going to be a year of growth. He had been preparing me for year 25 and now it was time to walk on faith. Up until 25, my faith hadn't really been tested. I must admit, I failed in so many ways this year. I thought I trusted God with all my heart, but I quickly learned that when I faced difficulty, I turned to myself first and when I fell I turned to God. I am so thankful for those failures because if it wasn't for those failures I would have never grown. Through each of my failures I never stopped believing and I was forever grateful that my Lord and Savior never stopped believing in me as well!

I love the scripture in Deuteronomy 31:6 where God tells us, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you."

These words are so powerful to me! I love looking at synonyms to key words in scripture. It opens up the verse for me. Below are a few words with their synonyms.

STRONG: active, big, enduring, energetic, firm, fixed, durable
COURAGEOUS: adventurous, daring, fearless, gutsy, heroic, high-spirited
FORSAKE: desert, disown, give up, leave

As I look at these words, I get excited! God is telling us to trust Him, to be energetic and fearless about it and know that He has our back, He will not leave us, He will not give up on us. Remember His promises. Stand firm on His promises.

God continues to speak this verse in my life. I am slowly getting the hint He wants me to 'sole'ly trust Him. He wants me to be strong and courageous with the things He tells me to do. He wants YOU to be strong and courageous as well.

The opposite of strong is weak and the opposite of courageous is fearful and timid. God has a purpose for each and every one of us and it's up to us to be strong and courageous with that purpose. In the bible, God wanted them to be strong and courageous so they could get to the land He had promised them. Why is God asking you to be strong and courageous?

God is telling me to be strong and courageous in my "almost 30 years," well actually for the rest of my life. He just revealed to me that this is something I need to work on. It is part of building a solid foundation. I know I said that 25 was a year of growth, but I know that once I grow in one area, God will continue to grow in me in other areas as well.

Keep me in your prayers! I pray Ephesians 6:19 into every readers life, that you will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel!





I AM A RUNNER AND I LOVE JESUS

I am a runner and I love Jesus.

A few months ago God told me to begin a blog, I ignored Him. I didn't know what to say and I didn't know if anyone would take the time to read my blog. I told myself that it was probably a misunderstanding. Needless to say, it wasn't a misunderstanding, here I am, writing my first blog post. Thank you in advance for stopping by!

So here it goes, I am a runner and I love Jesus. I wasn't always a runner and I haven't always loved Jesus (the way I do now). The  thought of running one mile scared me and the thought of reading one chapter in the bible bored me. BUT God!

One day in September 2009, after going to church off and on, the power of God touched me in a way it never had before and on that day I was saved. I was 20 years old. God saved me spiritually and physically.

I want to start off my blog by letting you all know, I did not grow up being a born-again Christian. I also did not come out of my mothers womb running. I made a choice to be a Christian, which changed my life drastically and because of that choice, God gave me the gift of running. My Christian walk is not perfect and neither is my running life. But through my ups and downs in my mini life (I call it mini because I know to some people 26 is the age of a child...lol) I hope to encourage you to keep fighting the good fight of faith. (1 Tim 6:12)

God told me that the goal of this blog is not to reach billions of people. He told me that if just one person is impacted, this blog will have been a success. I pray that you will be encouraged and motivated and feel a little closer to Jesus as you read my blog posts. I will be updating a least once a week!

"Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses." - 1 Tim 6:12