Prayer Run.

We've all heard of prayer walks before...and I am sure that the concept of a "prayer run" is not new, but it is something that I figured out is a huge part of my own running. I have NEVER been a good long distance runner. Give me a basketball, or a field hockey stick and a ball, or a soccer ball...and I will run, but to run just for the sake of running has never been something that I thought I could do.

I remember struggling through the mile run's during gym class in high school...granted, most of the time this run was done inside around the library and the nasty nasty smoke filled bathrooms that made me gag on every lap...but still, even when we were outside I hated it. I think I might have run a mile in JUST under 8 minutes, ONE time...but I was more of an 8.5 minute mile (and that was running just one mile). I honestly don't think that I have ever run more than one mile at a time...unless maybe during field hockey practice, but I don't think our pre-practice laps around the field equaled more than a mile. I'm not sure.

Lately, I have been using my running time as a concentrated time of prayer. More specifically, I devote one lap to pray for someone or something in particular. It is amazing to me how I find myself at the end of the lap..not quite finished with my thoughts, then I wonder where that whole lap went. The cool part about devoting an entire lap per person is that my list of people to pray for could go on and on! Today, I set out with the intentions of running one mile. The problem was, I spent a lap in prayer for myself, my health, my parenting...etc, then I spent a lap in prayer for Josh, then a lap in prayer for a specific friend, then a lap in prayer for Jessalyn.....and that was my mil. The problem is, I couldn't possibly stop at Jessalyn! So..I kept running. I then used a lap to pray for Ethan, then a lap for Luke...then a lap for Owen. If I counted correctly, I am up to 7 laps...but I still wanted to devote a lap in prayer for my mom....TWO miles!!

Usually when I run it is my lungs that give up on me....I can't breath....I feel like my lungs are bleeding and that I might pass out. Lately, its not that at all. The prayer keeps my mind off from that and this particular two miles it was my legs that were getting tired. By the end of two miles I was pretty spent, but the time went by quickly and I was not totally 'dead' like I would expect.

My advice...leave the ipods at the door and use your running time as your prayer time!

Oh..and just to clarify, "prayer runs" and "prayer walks" do not require your eyes to be closed:) That would be interesting!