My friend Jon Swanson is on a 98-days-in-a-row running streak.
A streak like that causes you to do crazy things like run in the dark or the rain. But Jon doesn’t run for streaks. He’s training for a bigger purpose. I encourage you to follow his blog–you’ll learn a lot about bigger purposes, and perhaps a bit about running.
My training has been really messed up lately–no long streaks for me. Not complaining, but a series of small issues have prevented me from riding consistently. I thought I was back on track when an unexpected minor surgery popped up. I didn’t think there would be any down time, but the doc said no exercise for 12 days. I would’ve short-cut that, but the phone was on “speaker” and Becky heard it so…
I’m finally back on the bike after nearly two weeks, and I really missed it. Except the part where I got a few miles from home and someone suddenly sucked most of the oxygen out of the atmosphere.
Jon and I aren’t competitive athletes. Jon enters organized runs occasionally and I do these crazy long-distance rides, but neither of us seeks to become faster for the sake of winning.
But we both refer to our workouts, his running and my cycling, as training. Might be fair to ask–if I’m not trying to win a race, what am I training for?
I never feel like I’m just doing miles, riding aimlessly.
Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. (1 Corinthians 9:26)
My cycling’s always been part of following a God-sized dream. Even when I’m not sure where the dream is leading me, riding my bike is, in some way, training for the dream.
The training’s mostly not physical, not really. It’s more spiritual and emotional, but the sweat and sore muscles give it focus.
What are you training for? How do you train?
I don’t think it matters how you train, but God doesn’t want you running aimlessly.
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