This week I was shocked, like most of the nation, while watching the news hearing of story after story of women being mistreated. That is putting it mildly. But I was frightened even more when I spoke with a police officer at our Sunday school party this Friday night. I heard of a pretty horrific event that happened in my own town. I am not going to go into detail, but lets just say it got me worried. As Steve and I drove home, I told him that this made me worried about running by myself. As we talked, I found myself saying, "Sometimes, it sucks being a girl." Steve agreed with me by saying, "You don't hear of men being abducted while going for a walk that often or at all for that matter."
But as a woman I refuse to live my life in fear, and as a child of God I know that I have nothing to fear. Does that mean that I should throw caution to the wind and think that nothing could happen to me. NO. It means that God will not give me anything that he will not provide me the strength to get through. It means that although I should be mindful of when and where I go running, I should not be bond in chains by my fear. So I continue to run, and live my life.
Saturday morning I got up early and went for a 7.5 mile run. This is the farthest I have ever gone. The temperature was amazing...I am not sure what it was, but it felt much better than the 90 degree temps I have been running in previously. I ran without walking, and only stopped a couple times to get some water. It took me 1 hour and 35 minutes. I found myself wondering if my friend Dominique was running at the same time. (But I just read her blog and she ran much earlier than me.) I love seeing all the people out running, walking their dogs, riding bikes, etc. I see some of the same people over and over again. It is like we have our own little workout community.
This month I have ran a total of 48 miles. Next Saturday, I plan on running 8 miles. This will be my long run distance for the month of September.
This is a prayer I find myself praying every once in a while during my runs. "God thanks for legs that run, lungs that breath, a heart that beats, skin that sweats, eyes that see, etc...But God if you took it all away, I would still love you."
Way to go on the long run! You are encouraging me! But yeah, I know exactly what your talking about. Trey and I talk about that often. It makes me paranoid, but I too have to remind myself that the Lord will protect me. I just try to tell myself, all the bad people of the world are still sleeping that early in the morning :P Also since I'm blogging, I don't put every detail of my run online. For example: I wrote how I met my friend at a nearby parking lot, near my house...I didn't name the store and I didn't mention the trail entrance.....I just keep the location details generic. I don't mind naming the trail, since it runs miles and miles around Fort Worth.
ReplyDeleteI try to do that too...But you got me wondering now. I think I need to go through my blog and make sure I have not been too detailed about some items.
ReplyDeleteYou encourage me too. I love reading your blog. Kept running, and be safe.