How Much Is Enough? (Part 2)

There’s something inside me that wants to do more…wants to go faster and further…wants to know what the outer limit is. No, I’m not obsessed with it, but I’m never quite free from it either. When I stop running or exercising for a few days it’s the voice that says, “You’re losing it”. The question is where does “it” come from? Is it a result of our fallen nature, or is it something that God can redeem and is part of our “spark of the divine” that makes us want to do more.

So here are the two competing statements I often hear in my head that need to be reconciled. One: “If God has gifted you with the ability to do “X”, to not do so is not ‘using your gift’ and is poor stewardship.” And the contrasting statement, “You have taken a good thing that I have given you and made it into an idol”.

Of course the answer to every continuum question is always “somewhere in the middle” isn’t it? But that’s not really any help since we can safely say that there is no one answer for everyone and each of us is going to have to find our point on the continuum. So here are a few questions I ask myself when I’m wondering… “Have I gone too far?”

1) How much of my self-definition is tied up in my athletic pursuits? To what degree do they define me? In the extreme, are the two (me and athletic pursuits) inseparable?

2) More generally; am I trying to achieve something from my athletic pursuits that it was not intended to give me?

3) What would I do with the time I spend exercising if I didn’t exercise? Would that time be valuable to someone else?

4) Would I run/bike/swim/whatever if I could not compete? Would I run a race that did not have a clock setup?

DP overload

Talk about too much of a good thing. 17 DPs a day.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25708021/

"Daily, the cleaning business owner would drink 17 cans of Dr. Pepper (2,625 calories) and eat so much food – fatty carbohydrates like pizza, garlic bread and brownies – that she thought she would vomit."

A mediocre 10K

Although I PR'd by a minute and a half I never felt good at the Gobbler Hobbler 10K on Saturday. I feel sluggish and I wasn't close to my "stretch goal" of under 40 minutes. I was right on pace at the halfway point but fell off badly in miles 4 and 5. I'll blame the wind.

Nice course, nice race, nice volunteers.