Marathon Training -- Week 12, Day 2

I am going to run my first marathon in less than 5 weeks. I have been in unofficial training for about 20 weeks, but started a training plan 12 weeks ago. I am a bit panicked at this point because my longest run so far has been 17 miles. If I had stuck to my program, I would have ran 2 more 18-20 mile runs by now. With three girls in soccer, I have found it challanging to carve out 3 hours on a Saturday to train. Time has probably been biggest obstacle thus far.
I started on a whole food diet about 10 days ago. I cut out refined sugar and white flour about 1 week ago. It has changed the way I feel dramatically. A dear friend lent me her copy of Brendan Brazier's Thrive diet book because she knew I was vegaterian and was training for a marathon. Given my fitness background, one would think that I had thought about my diet in terms of my training, but I had given it very little thought. Now I am on the cusp of insanity with my mission.

Yesterday when I got up to run, my sophistated GPS enabled stop watch would not come on. I had a 12 mile run planned, so I was disappointed. For a brief moment, (well, actually it was a pretty extended moment as I do sometimes embrace any excuse to skip a run) the thought of running without knowing exactly how far or how fast I am going seemed pointless. I prayed that God would let my watch work. It is brand new and one of my most beloved possesions. Then, I stopped myself and said, "No, God. Please teach me what I am supposed to learn through this." I won the battle with my flesh and took off down the road, watchless.

Now, I always heard that training for and running a marathon is a spiritual journey. So, since I have been training, I almost never wear headphones while I run. I use this time to pray and think. Of course, this day, my watch was the forefront of my mind. Then, it hit me. I almost skipped my run because my watch would not work. Here is a tool that I purchased to help me in my training, and I have become so dependant upon it that I am going to skip a training run because I don't have it. Wow, how silly is that? It is the physical act of running that trains my body, not my watch, my shoes, the countless articles I have read, or my heart rate monitor.

Then, I applied that to my spiritual life. There are many tools (commentaries, meetings, even church) that we have to help us in our walk, but none should be the focus of it. It is the walk that trains our spirit. The time we spend in the Bible, in prayer, in meditation and in community is the training that equips us for his service. Now, I am not saying that any of the spiritual tools are bad for our spirits, as my watch is not bad for my training. It is our actions, not our desires that make us who we are. Knowledge and tools are useless in training your body for a marathon if you aren't going to get out there and pound the pavement in the months leading up to it.