"When I run I feel His pleasure"

I love running. There is just something so freeing about putting on my IPod and then just taking off for a run. I have to run outdoors (running on treadmills sucks, and there is no way I will do that weird elliptical machine) and I need to do it in the morning (of course in Arizona for most of the year running in the afternoon would kill you from the heat). About a year ago, while training for a 10 mile race, I did something to my knee. Not sure if I stepped wrong, twisted it, put too much strain, or whatever. But it hurt really bad and so I stopped. I had the doctor check it out and it turned out to be nothing. Yet every time I ran it kept hurting so I stopped running. Well this past fall I started back up and after a few runs got back into it and my knee only hurt a bit. Well then we moved and with the move and everything else in my life I got lazy and stopped running. I hate my laziness - whether it be at work, with the house, in my relationships, or with hobbies like running. Yet, so often it seems like no matter how much I don't want to be lazy and no matter how much I realize laziness hurts my life...it just creeps up on me. It is amazing how I can watch laziness destroy my life and yet I hardly ever do anything to counteract it. Well flash forward to last week. I finally got fed up with my lack of running, and I woke up last Friday, put my shoes on (Asics by the way, all other running shoes are inferior) and ran about two and half miles. It was so liberating! I felt GREAT afterwards and my whole day improved. Well since that day I have 4 others times in the past week and it has been so awesome. It feels great to be back and fighting the laziness in my life in at least one area. The title of this blog comes from a quote in the movie Chariots of Fire, from the runner Eric Liddell (The Flying Scotsman). The funny thing is I think I understand what he said. It feels amazing to run, and I actually feel at peace with God as I run. It gives me a time to listen to music, be outside, do something I enjoy, discipline my body, and experience the day as the sun rises. To say the least, it has been incredible this past week. As Steve Prefontaine (the best American distance runner ever?) said, "You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement." Whatever the reason, I am going to keep pounding the pavement.