Running with Weight

I am out of shape. I know, I know…this is a shocker that you didn’t want to believe…but believe me, it is sad but true. I bring this confession for 2 reasons.

1) It is basically Spring and I am thinking about everything I want to do outside, and how I better start getting in shape so I can enjoy the weather out there! Nothing like temps in the upper 60’s to remind me that all those fast food meals are the gifts that keep on giving…

2) I was made to run. I don’t mean I am meant to be a marathon type of person, or a “hey I run 10 miles a day” sort of person. I mean I was made to experience something of fullness and joy in life as I push forward with intense momentum. I was born to run. Walking would get me there, but walking is not the right mode for me. Now I am not talking about impatience within me. This is not like a microwave it…hurry it up…I want it all and I want it now sort of mentality. We all have that within us, but that is not what I am talking about here. I mean there is something for me (perhaps for us) in the intense momentum of running - something of fresh purpose and renewed desire.

This is true physically. When you run, you release endorphins, you can get a “runners high,” and when the weather is just right…the setting is just right…you can feel as if all the joy in this life is just one stride away…and you want it NOW!

This is also true mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I (and perhaps you) was born to run. God created me to stride boldly and take big leap after big leap in pursuing Him and all He has for me. When pushing myself forward with intense momentum, I seem to find this sense of growing desire and purpose. Hopefully all of us have at least a few times in life been to a place where we can look inward and honestly say, “I was made for this!”

Lately, I have been thinking about the idea of running with weights. When I was in middle school, I found a pair of ankle weights and started to train with them. I now know they are horrible for your knees, but then all I knew was if I could run and train with a couple of extra pounds on each leg, then when I ran without the weights I would be able to run longer and with more energy and endurance. While that was true, when I ran with the weights on, it was depressing, because I was going nowhere near as far or as fast as I could.

I have been thinking about this lately because it translates mentally, emotionally and spiritually. When you are born to run, to soar, God has to put you in training. There are seasons of training that must occur. There are weights that will be added to your load, to help you train and learn how to carry more. There is financial weight that comes with life, when you don’t have enough funds, you can literally feel the 5 pound weights being attached to your legs. When you are in your 20’s and 30’s you have to ask questions of yourself having to do with purpose and calling…and when you are not in your sweet spot, there can be a weight to that, like a 5 pound wrist weights on your arms. Don’t forget relationships! When you have relationships (friendships, work peers, romantic, whatever!) that aren’t working right, it is like a 10 pound vest just thrown over your shoulders. There are so many other things that can weigh you down, these are just a few.

When you have all these weights on you, how are you supposed to run? It is impossible! Simply moving forward, even with a slow walk is impressive. You were made to run, and it becomes more and more impossible with every weight that attaches itself to you.

All of this would be too much, overly depressing and conquering, if it were not for the reality of training. These weights are not here to stop you or slow you down, but in our short-term perspective it feels like they are fighting against our goal…to run! The weights are given, in appropriate time and right seasons, to help us to train. They are here to build our emotional, relational, mental and spiritual muscles, so that we can soar with new found energy and endurance in the coming years.