Preparing to Run

I've recently decided that I should spend more time exercising than what I have been. One way that I thought of to do that would be to increase the amount of walking that I do until I'm in good enough shape to run. After stepping up my exercise routines for a very short time, I decided it was time to test out the new strength in my legs and see how far I could run.

Surprisingly, I was able to run a considerable distance further than I had been able to previously. When I got home that night, my legs were on fire though. The next day, my ankles hurt so bad I could hardly walk. Apparently, I had done tendon damage by not being properly prepared to run. In all my preparations to walk, I got my media player out, headphones, etc.; stretching was never on my list.

When I decided to run, I stretched first, but because I hadn't made it a habit before exercise to stretch, my body was unprepared to deal with the added stress. My legs were strong enough, the muscles could handle it. I'm reminded of our daily dealings with God in all of this. We pray a little every day, read our Bibles; we're just walking along with God. Then, we come upon a hard time, and have the need to run, and we falter or we injure ourselves because we weren't used to stretching our spiritual lives that far.

1 Timothy 4:7-8 says to exercise yourself to Godliness. You exercise normally by practicing what you want to do at the top of your training routine and you'll always be ready to do your best. If you do the bare minimum for the stage you're on, you'll find yourself injured trying to reach the next phase.