While starting to train for a 5k, I am beginning to understand what that actually means.
Complaining is easy. Really easy. There are endless things to complain about and I get locked into feeling overwhelmed and defeated and I haven't even quit yet.
Then there are the self-pep talks... "Just keep running" and "One lap at a time." Those, however, only work for a short time. Then you just get bored of hearing yourself say them.
Somewhere, between both, my body chooses neither and simply keeps going. My biggest concern is for my body, making sure I don't get to the point where I am breathing too heavily. As long as my heart keeps up, I can keep on running. I can deal with the tightness in my calves and the side stitches... just keep breathing deeply and let my legs take me where my heart leads.
It reminds me of another battle of the mind and body. This one, too, depends on my heart. The difference, however, is that God is the one keeping my heart going. He is the one at the end of the day that says "Look, Alex, your heart is OK. Still pumping. Still full of life. No matter what your body says, no matter what your mind says, you CAN keep going. You CAN keep running."
My mind and body are taking me where my heart wants to go.
How do I train my body and mind to listen to my heart? To listen to my own breathing, stopping or slowing down when my heart starts working too hard?
In every situation in my life, whether I feel like I'm losing the battle or winning, it is the author of my heart who paces me. He sees the veins and the arteries and he knows my heart better than I do. I am free to keep running ... and I push on beyond what I think my body can take because it is my heart that will decide how much is too much.
