After my post-pregnancy body failed me last summer when I tried to get back to running with a Couch to 5K, I sat in the floor and cried. Then, I got really mad and decided to do something about it. I talked with a physical therapist who encouraged me to work on strengthening all of the muscles that three pregnancies had weakened. So, I started a three day a week training program at home and have been working on it ever since then. I’m so excited to say that here I am…a year later…training for the same Couch to 5K…and so far so good! It’s funny how my perspective on exercise has changed as I’ve gotten older…I’m motivated by desperation instead of obligation. And with every step I take…I’m pleasantly surprised and grateful instead of expecting to be able to do it and taking it for granted.
On my first twenty minute run in YEARS, Petra joined up with me when I passed by our house at the halfway mark, without her collar and her leash. I was worried that she wouldn’t stay with me, but she did…the whole way. In the quiet and stillness that comes in running alone, I talked with God about how I felt it was symbolic and what He wanted me to see. Then, a revelation came…that Petra stayed with me because she has a relationship with me…like we have with God and He has with us…like Tom and I have with each other and with our children. It made me think about that relationship…do I have it, do I cultivate it, do I trust in it, etc. It was a sweet reminder to that part of myself that likes to be in control…just to rest and trust. Yay for God who reveals Himself to us through His creation!
