Inspiration

10,000 Reasons

 

"Bless the Lord, O my soul

O my soul

Worship His holy name

Sing like never before

O my soul

I'll worship Your holy name."

 

 

 

I honestly believe there come moments during a training cycle where it can and will elevate you to the next step. Yesterday morning was one of those times.

 

The morning was hot and humid and I was faced with the longest run of my training cycle since last March. The mileage on the schedule told me I had to run 11 miles, and I knew this was going to be a tough one because of the conditions. It's mornings like this where I wish I would have stayed in bed. But as a runner I have also learned that no matter how hard the obstacle seems, we all have a very stubborn mentality to suck it up and give it our best shot.

 

Maybe it was the prayer before the group that helped. Usually that calms me. On this morning, I really didn't want to do this, but I pressed on.

 

Matthew 19:26 says "with God all things are possible." so I pressed on and started the run. The thing I love about my training group Volte Endurance is we always try to help each other out. On this morning I experienced it first hand.

 

About 3-miles in to the run, one of my runners from the 10 for Texas program caught up to me at the rest stop. We talked a little and decided to move on together.

 

So off we went, mile by mile we went. The temperatures got warmer and the humidity seemed to increase. But we stuck together. About 8 miles into the run I was really beginning to feel the distance. My legs hurt and I felt like I was beginning to get the weak-leg syndrome. To me when I hit that point, I stop running and do a lot of walking. But something told me to keep going, and I made sure to keep my partner from quitting as well.

 

Finally the last mile was here, I told myself not to give up so I kept working.

 

On my MP3 player I have a mixture of music. It consists of everything from good ol' fashion rock and roll to Contemporary Christian.

 

I honestly believe in moments when we need Him, God comes through for us.

 

About a 1/2 mile from the finish, I wanted to walk sooooo bad, but then 10,0000 Reasons came on and all of a sudden I was energized, I was so happy. I started singing the song out loud. I didn't care if other people heard me singing, at the moment I was so full of joy I felt like singing. I looked up at the sky and the scene was beautiful, it spoke to me. It was like he was filling my body with the extra energy to finish.

 

Finally my friend and I finished and we both thanked each other for helping each other get through a very difficult run. Later on I got a note from her thanking me for providing her with the inspiration to finish. She told me it was my singing of 10,000 Reasons that helped her finish.

 

There is nothing like the feeling that you have finally broken through the wall. The last couple of weeks have been a struggle because of the heat and humidity, but God has a way of motivating and watching over us to get to the next level. Yesterday that is exactly what he did.

Yesterday morning was a blessing from God. He gave me the strength and endurance to finish 11 miles. But most importantly he gave me something to think about.

1 Corinthians 9:27 says "I treat my body hard and make it my slave so that I myself will not be disqualified after I preached to others."

What you think about your chances of success goes along way in determining whether you will enjoy it and if you will be successful.

Keep your heads up my friends and stay positive in everything you do.

See you on the road.

Coach Rich