“It’s elevating and humbling at the same time. Running along a beach at sunrise with no other footprints in the sand, you realize the vastness of creation, your own insignificant space in the plan, how tiny you really are, your own creatureliness and how much you owe to the supreme body, the God that brought all this beauty and harmony into being.”
– Sister Marion Irvine, 2:51 PR and 1984 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier

This quote is so cool on soooo many levels. 1) A Sister, a Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier. 2) I’ve had this same feeling many times running, especially on my prayer runs. 3) Every time I’m on a trial, I feel like I’m the only person on earth that’s ever set foot on that piece of earth.

It’s funny how easily we can get distracted. In my case it was dealing with a runner’s low that reintroduced the iPod back into my running routine. Without thinking about it, my 0ne-on-one time with God and prayer became less and less on my runs. It’s difficult to pray with Nickelback and DragonForce blowing out your eardrums.

So it came in the form of a simple message on Facebook, from someone commenting on earlier post on spiritual running, that brought about my Easter Eight with God (sort of ironic that that someone’s name was Faith). I left the iPod at home on a gorgeous Easter morning in Las Vegas. After saying my prerun prayer, I headed out on my usual 8-mile course but with my priorities set straight once again.

I don’t want you to think that this is something you need to learn. An exact science it is not. It’s simply using the time you have during your run to talk to God. In my case it starts with a running mantra “He has risen, saved by grace.” I break up the syllables to my stride and that helps clear my mind and lets me focus on the task at hand. Usually after a mile or so, I’m ready. Today being Easter, my mantra fits perfectly and that’s what my runs prayers focused on. It’s not all about prayer though. I use this time to just talk to God. Asking questions, making comments and saying prayers for other runners and cyclists. Living in the moment and appreciating everything He has done and will do in my life.

While I know this may not strike a chord with some of you, I find it spiritually rewarding and I think you will too. This is Our time. Not performed with hundreds of people but my direct connection with God that’s not limited by rituals or time constraints. It’s from my heart and I know that He is running along side me. Not just on that particular run, but running along side me in life.

Next time out, leave your iPod and distractions at home and give it a shot. I think you’ll be surprised at the results.

He has risen. Saved by grace.
RMFR

“I wanted to be a hurdler or something. But when we had tryouts, I was afraid to try out that I just refused, kind of hung out in the back of the crowd hoping I wouldn’t get noticed. The last event was the mile. And the coaches said: ‘Porter hasn’t done anything yet.’ So there I was committed; enter Pat Porter, distance runner.”
– Pat Porter

Funny how we find ourselves in certain situations. I’m a firm believer that God has a plan for all of us and one way or the other, we end up in His hands.

How many times have you been on a run and a car suddenly stopped before clipping you? On a hot day, has there every been a cloud that just seemed to hang out – covering the sun and keeping the temperature just a little cooler? One could dismiss these occurrences to luck or good fortune. Some might not even pay much attention or notice them at all.

Since I started meditating and praying while running, I’ve noticed these events happen more often than not. I think more often than not, we dismiss little things in life as coincidences. I have been putting much more thought into Divine intervention. While I don’t think that God is constantly making my runs as easy as possible, I do believe that he has his hand into a lot more things then we give Him credit for.

Why is it do we think that signs from God must be grandiose? The burning bush. The parting of the Red Sea. Miracles and signs that left no question to who/what they were. I think the problem is that in this day and age with our 24/7 lives, we’ve stopped paying attention. While I’m running and focusing on my breath, I try and make my senses open to all stimuli. Tuning out all mental static and listening to the silence, I’ve become more in tune with the world around me and able to bask in all of God’s creation.

On your next run, leave the iPod at home. Force yourself to focus on your breath. Fall in tune with your footfalls and tune out your worries, troubles and issues. Recite a mantra and get into a groove. Don’t worry about your pace and just listen. Listen to nothing and allow your senses to take in the world around you. You’ll be amazed at what you’ll see.

Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

As long distance runners, we work hard to build our endurance and strength. On race day, we have our wicking shirts, lightweight shoes and our bodies are prepared for the test that lies before us. To run the race that God has set before us, we must also strip off the excess weight that slows us down.

• Choose friends that are also committed to your race (run with the right crowd).
• Drop activities that are counter productive towards you ultimate goal.
• Get help for addictions that disable you.

It’s never too late to experience God’s grace.

If I pass you on the road somewhere be sure this prayer is being said for you.

God,
Please protect this runner from injury or harm;
help lift them up the inclines and back down again to You.
In Jesus’ name I pray,
Amen

Titus 2:7
And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching.

My run this past Saturday (well pretty much all my long runs are on this road) was on a long stretch that leads out to Red Rock Canyon. This stretch of road is well traveled by cyclists and a few runners lured by the incredible scenery and the long inclines for training. There’s a lot of of strange things you’ll see dumped on the side of the road (makes you wonder if anybody remembers the old PSA commercial on pollution).

On this particular morning, I happened upon a rubber glove on one of the road markers greeting every person that passed by. At first, I took notice and kept on going since I was almost to my turn around point. On the way back, there it was again, greeting me for the second time in all it’s unglory. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve been known to forget to raise my other fingers on occasion but never this publicly. I kept running downhill for another 100 feet before I crossed back over the road. I couldn’t let that glove stay there in it’s current state. Without having a means to transport the glove to a trash can in the middle of the desert, I decided to change its greeting.

The title of this post has nothing to do with your stride, frame or running style but with the way we should lead our lives. In Roger D. Joslin’s book “Running the Spiritual Path,” he talks about the “Mother Teresa Run.” As you run, offering blessings to everyone you meet whether they acknowledge you or not. It can be as simple as a smile or a wave or a prayer to God to see them safely on their journey. That’s what I was trying to do on my run, take something negative and turn it into something positive.

Grace is something that was gifted to us when Jesus died for our sins. As a follower of Christ, it is my responsibility and honor to lead by His example. Enjoy your run, be one with nature and love one another as He loves us.

I just finished reading John Brant’s book “Duel in the Sun” and if you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend it. Being fairly new to running, I didn’t know much about Alberto Salazar or Dick Beardsley except for the fact that I knew who they were…or so I thought.

The thing that most caught my attention in this book was not what you would think. Yes, the narrative of the 1982 Boston Marathon was gripping. Yes, Dick Beardsley’s addiction and recovery is an inspirational story everyone must know and learn from. Yes, Alberto Salazar’s health problems and inability to recover from the aforementioned battle evoke sympathy and praise. The thing that really touched and inspired me was reading about Alberto’s faith.

Without ruining a great read, when Alberto Salazar was at his lowest battling depression and his health, he turned to God. It was nothing that happened right away. He didn’t pray one day on a long run and BAM he was cured. In fact, when he rededicated his life to God to the time he finally found a cure for his ailment was nearly 3 years later.

“I believe that God guided me to keep the faith through all the years because the answer – in my case, Prozac – would be coming,” Salazar said. All those years unable to run and he never gave up faith.

We sometimes get inpatient when our prayers go unanswered. We sometimes question our faith and wonder if God is even listening. Remember that we’re His children and he loves us. There’s a plan for each and every one of us and when it’s time, He’ll lead us where He wants us to go.

“Run toward God and know that far in the distance God is running toward you.”
- Roger D. Joslin

I’ve been “running the spiritual path” now for about a month and a half. It’s changed my life. I love the quiet moments with God and being at one with my breath. It’s not only enlightening but it transforms you. You know how when you see that really inspirational movie (i.e. Rudy) and you get the chills…actual chills. I’ve attained that with spiritual running. There have been many occasions when I’ve made that connection and God has lifted me up and touched me. Some may call it a “runner’s high” or an “adrenaline high” but I see it as being touched by Him.

The point of this, is that I cheated or at least I felt that I had cheated. During my “slump” a couple of weeks ago, I headed out on a 5 mile run with my iPod. God wasn’t on my iPod – no, somebody MUCH different – Nickelback was. I honestly felt guilt going out on a run with music and apologized profusely in prayer. I needed to give it a shot. I hate to admit it, but the music was good. I had a driving force behind my pace but spiritually my run was empty. I couldn’t commit to a mantra nor could I establish any concentration towards any communication with God. Call it an epiphany or call it a sign, but I came up with a solution on that guitar mashing, profanity laden run.

The following Sunday while attending Central Christian Church here in Las Vegas (Summerlin Campus) I marched right up to the two42 Cafe and purchased all three of the First Wednesday CD’s (First Wednesday is a time when our Church worships with an hour full of inspirational music and fellowship). These are not hymns by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, there’s nothing “old school” about them at all. There’s a full drum kit, electric guitars, a bass and it’s loud!!! The only difference is the message of these songs. One’s about getting drunk and fooling around while the other celebrates and thanks our Lord.

The following day, I tried this experiment/suggestion and it hit the mark. While it may not having the speed guitars of Dragonforce or the hard driving beat of AC/DC, it surpassed any of my rock library hands down. I swear I caught myself singing a couple of times and I know I caught myself “lifting it up to God” several times. But you know what…it felt great. I felt connected and I felt I was communicating with Him the way he intended me too.

I still don’t run with an iPod that often, but when I do, I know that my time spent is going to be meaningful time well spent.

Finally finished reading Roger D. Joslin’s book, Running the Spiritual Path. I’m a slow reader. I generally drift off when I’m reading, but with this book, I reread parts because I wanted to – not because I had to. I treated it as a text book. A “guide” on how to better run in a meditative state where I could more easily be open to God and His world around us. While Mr. Joslin lays out great techniques and tips to help you on your journey, I found that when it comes right down to it – you need to do what works for you.

While Mr. Joslin runs most of his runs on trails, I run mostly on crowded streets with cars, bikes and a variety of stimuli that can make it hard to concentrate on your breath and stride. That’s the great part about it though. The harder you work to establish that connection to the Divine, the better the results.

I’ve attained the mediative “blue aura”, I’ve been able to focus on taking in God’s breath and have even held a mantra through the duration of the run. How we get there isn’t the point. It’s the willingness to try that matters. The same goes for my running philosophy. I don’t attain to be the strongest or fastest runner. To me, it’s effort, diligence and love that I have for running that matters most to me.

You may read these posts on Spiritual Running and could care less. That’s OK. But on your next run, I urge you to give it a try. The intent of your meditation does not need to be Spiritual in nature. By clearing your head and working towards quieting your soul – God will reach out to you in His way. Whether it is a strong wind, a gorgeous trail, the warmth of the sun or a smiling stranger – God is there.

“Run toward God and know that far in the distance God is running toward you.”
- Roger D. Joslin