Back on the Road Again, Again, Again

It's not looking much like I'll be part of the 7,000+ runners in the Cleveland Marathon come May 18.  Yesterday and today were my first days of running in the past three weeks.  A funny thing has happened since God has been dealing with my life-long struggle with anger--I don't feel the "need" to go for a run.  Certainly, my body still has the need, from a physical fitness and health standpoint.  Certainly, my prayer life can use the extended times of prayer as I run.  Actually, though, my prayer life is so much more on-going since it isn't being interrupted with bouts of irritation and anger throughout the day.  I've noticed that now that I'm driving "normally" (read as: obeying most of the traffic laws, most of the time) that my prayer time in the car is fairly non-interrupted. (I've even noticed that at the speeds I drive these days, I could probably write or read a book, but so far I've resisted the temptation!) Anyway, I started this post to say that while I don't "need" to run as a way of letting off steam anymore, I realized that I still need the discipline of the run, and the focused start to each day in prayer.  This morning was a challenge to say the least.  Rails to trails was more like "slush to mush."  About 2-3 inches of snow/ice/slush made up the "base," which meant that footing was not fun.  Even so, the four mile run felt good, and as I was thinking about how "short" of a run it was, I realized that four years ago when I started running my first run was 1/8 of a mile!  That was a tough one to take for a guy who lettered in three varsity sports in high school, and always considered myself an athlete.  These days, I consider myself blessed to be able to go out and complete a "short" run, and to probably still have a few long ones in me.  More than that, I'm grateful to God that while I don't "need" to run anymore, I still can, and will, because it keeps me sharp spiritually, and gives me the opportunity to stay in good enough shape to play a little one-on-one with the girls, or go water skiing this summer (the Lord willing!) without too much danger of hurting myself. So, it's back on the road (or trail) again, again, again...