Remembering

"Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works..." - Revelation 2:4-5a

After the half-marathon that I ran on October 16th, I decided to take a couple of weeks off from running.  It's usually a good idea to give your body a little time to recover from a long training session and challenging race.  Plus, we had family visiting for a week and I've been pretty busy at work... so this seemed like a good time for a break.

Looking back at the race, I am pretty pleased with how I ran it.  The pace that I maintained throughout the race was better that I anticipated, and I didn't wear myself out before hitting those last few miles, so I was able to maintain a strong pace throughout.  That's an improvement over other recent races.  I've been running races for several years now, and I have the results of all my races (at least the major ones) saved so that I can compare back to how I have done in the past.  I have actually run 8 half marathons up to this point, and while this last Half Marathon was my best one in the last 5 years, I can't help but compare my current performance to how I used to run years ago.  The very first Half Marathon that I ran was in March 2003.  That was actually my second-ever race.  In that race, I ran an average pace of 08:11 per mile.  One year after that, in March 2004, I logged my Half Marathon personal record (PR).  In that race, I averaged 07:37 per mile.  Now, those aren't incredibly amazing times... but they are pretty amazing for me.

Back in those days, my life wasn't as full and complicated as it is now.  My children were both young, I didn't own a house, I wasn't involved in church leadership, and my job wasn't nearly as challenging.  I had alot more time to invest in running.  Because I was able to give myself more fully to running, I was a much better runner. Well... needless to say, times have changed.  My priorities have changed. I can no longer justify giving 2-3 hours, 5-6 times a week to running.  Because running is no longer worthy of such devotion, my performance has taken a bit of a hit.

Looking back like that is a bit sobering.  I know the type of runner I can be if I am devoted.  And I can honestly say that back in 2004 (when I hit that PR), even then, I wasn't running at the top of my potential.  It would be easy for me to live in the "glory" of those "high-performance" years and consider myself to be a pretty good runner... but when I look at my past times, and then look at how I struggle just to maintain an 08:00 per mile pace now, I can't ignore the truth: I am not the runner that I once was.

Honestly, letting my running performance slip is perfectly fine with me.  Running, while a worthwhile earthly endeavor, does not have eternal significance.  Running does help me stay healthy and stave off chronic deaseases like diabetes, high cholesterol and heart disease.  However, once I have departed this earthly life, none of that will matter.  Therefore, while running has a place in my life (I call it good stewardship of my body), it does not have a prominent place.

One area of my life that does have eternal significance is my discipleship of and devotion to Jesus.  Just like it can be easy for me to live in glory of running years past, it can also be easy for me to live in how I used to walk with Jesus and totally ignore how I walk with Him now.  A few weeks ago, I mentioned that our church was taking on a 52 day challenge.  That 52 day challenge incorporates 4 key areas of life with Jesus: Prayer, Discipleship, Evangelism and Giving.  Recently, my pastor mentioned that for many of us, the 52 Day Challenge is all about us remembering from where we have fallen, and getting back to that place.  That is definitely true of me.  It is interesting and challenging to me to see the correlation between my running and my Spiritual walk.  The time when I was running my best was also one of my most effective times with the Lord. Back then, I was giving large blocks of time to prayer and diving in deep into study of the Bible.  I remember my daily devotional times taking 1-2 hours a day, just for reading and journaling all the things that I was discovering in my studies... then I would spend at least 45 minutes a day in prayer and worship as I drove to work.  But over the years, my life has gotten fuller... more complicated... more things are competing for my time, and I find it difficult to find consistent blocks of time in my day to devote to the 4 areas of our challenge.  A challenge this has been to me, indeed.

It's interesting to see the context of the scripture reference that I quoted above.  The quote is actually Jesus speaking to the church in Ephesus - the church that Paul wrote the book of Ephesians to... a very healthy church... but listen to what Jesus said to them:

"I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent." Revelation 2:2-5

Basically Jesus was saying, I see all the good stuff that you have been doing for Me, and how you have continued to stick with it through the years and remained consistently faithful... but while you are doing things for Me, you have stopped walking with Me... you are no longer devoted to Me, you are just doing things out of duty.  That is the story of my life.  I am really good at being faithful and consistent and persevering through all kinds of stuff, but how easy it is to move from devotion to duty.

It would be easy for me to live in the past and consider myself to be a devoted disciple... but I can't ignore the present.  I can't ignore how difficult it is for me to even find 30 minutes to spend in prayer and study of the word... I can't ignore how difficult it is to find opportunities to share with people the hope and good news that I have.  As I remember, I have to confess that I am guilty of the same things the Ephesians were guilty of.  But thankfully, it doesn't end at my guilt.  Thankfully the God that I serve is a merciful and gracious God.  In fact, I read this just this morning:

"Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

In the midst of lamenting over the horrible state that Israel was in because of its repeated failure to walk in the ways of God, Jeremiah was still able to write about the hope that he had for his nation.  In the Bible that I read, this commentary was written about the mercy of God:

"God's mercy is His compassion toward us even when we deserve punishment, His commitment to restore us even though we deserve to endure the consequences of our sin, and His covenant of love expressed at the point of our greatest foolishness." - Steven Fry

So thanks be to God that there is still hope for me... and there is still hope for you as well.  No matter the state you find yourself in, God's compassions do not fail... and His mercy is new every morning.  All I have to do, and all you have to do is follow the instructions that Jesus gave to the church in Ephesus: "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works..."  And to top it all off, God will even give us the ability to repent if we truly desire it.

Thank You God for Your mercy! Thank You that you give me the ability to remember! Thank You that You give me the opportunity and the ability to repent (turn things around) and head back in the right direction with You... not just doing things for You.

Let's run the Race... but let's run it with our First Love... let's lay aside all the weights that hold us back and keep our eyes ever fixed on and our hearts ever devoted to Jesus!

We have finished the race!

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful." 2 Timothy 4:7

14 weeks ago, a group of us met to run a 1 mile run together.  We were all there for a united purpose: to train for and run a Half Marathon.  Several in the group had never even run in a road race before... and for others, the longest distance they had run was a 5k (3.1 mile).  Over the weeks, we have run together, prayed for one another, encouraged each other, suffered through injuries and pain together... and this morning, we all toed the starting line of the Murfreesboro "Middle Half" Half Marathon together.  Of course, we were all at different paces through out the race... but we all ran it.  As much as I love running, and love crossing the finish line of a challenging race - few things compare to the joy I experienced as I watched friends that I had helped coach over the past few months, cross the finish line victorious.  Did they win the race? No.  But did they win today? Yes!  They stared 13.1 miles in the face and won.

I love seeing people new to running, catch a passion for the sport.  And for many people that run their first race, that first race is not their last.  Finish lines are not always finish lines.  Many times they are the launching point into something completely new.  When we graduate from High School or College, the ceremony is called a commencement.  Commencement means beginning, not ending.  When we come to the end of our schooling, it is just the beginning to another phase or season of life.

Today, I came across this short article by Terrence Mahon and thought it to be fitting for today. Terrence Mahon (a 2:13 marathoner in his own right) is the coach for Team Running USA in Mammoth Lakes, California and has coach many of our nations best runners, including Olympians Deena Kastor, Ryan Hall, Anna Pierce and Jen Rhines; and American 50k (31 miles) record holder Josh Cox.

There is No Finish Line By Terrence Mahon
October 15, 2010

I first started running road races when I was 12 years old. My first 10k was a totally new experience for me as I had never run that far before – at least not as fast as I could. After that race I was totally hooked. I wanted to run a race every weekend. I became a big fan of my local running store and pretty much all things running. One of my favorite running gear purchases was this poster that I bought at the running store. I had it up on the wall in my room right above my bed. It showed the picture of a runner with a seemingly endless array of hills in front of him. The caption on the poster said… “There is no finish line.”

I came to understand over the years of running what that caption truly meant. It was apparent that although there would be many races ahead with both starting and finishing lines – none of them would be the final finish line. The hills that rose and peaked in successive greater heights from one to the next were metaphors for this runner and his goals.

When most of us step on the starting line for a race we have goals in our mind. For newcomers it is to see if they can make it all the way to the end. As we get more experienced we chase time goals, then place goals and for the best of the best maybe it is for a chance at winning the race. All of these goals seem monumental to us at the time. It is as if this one event will be the greatest athletic challenge we will have ever tried to accomplish. It is quite possible that it will be. However, the pressure that we often place on ourselves and the greatness that such a task appears can easily be exaggerated in our minds.

In retrospect, once we reach these goals, we often comment that it was not as hard as we thought it would be. It seems that there is a disconnect between what our bodies can handle and what our minds believe to be true. With proper and adequate mental training we can change this mind-body dynamic to be in greater harmony.

If we can create the mindset of victory prior to the race then it will allow our bodies to reach their full potential. By understanding that “There is No Finish Line” we can open ourselves up to the fact that this goal is only one of many. There will be more and greater goals to come. Each one will still be as challenging as the last one, but the peak will be higher.

Like the hills facing the runner in my poster, it is not how difficult these tasks may appear it is the perspective that we have along the way. Understanding that each run, each hill, each race that lies ahead is part of one great process that makes up an entire running career. By realizing that there is no finish line we are free to truly experience the challenge in front of us and take it on with everything that we have to offer on the day.

The scripture above was written by the Apostle Paul as he was sitting on death row awaiting his execution.  Although he knew that his race of life was soon coming to an end, he also knew that the end of his life was just the beginning. Paul was the person that wrote "to live is Christ and to die is gain."

No matter how we live our life, the end or our life is not the end... but the choices we make in our life definitely determine what comes next. The most important choice we can make is to choose to accept God's gift of eternal life that He gives us through His Son, Jesus Christ.  The awesome thing about that gift is, if we accept it, we don't have to wait until the end of our life to begin enjoying it.  The eternal life of God begins now... and allows us to live a winning life.

So let's run the race well... and keep on running.

Run to Win: VO2Max Workouts

"Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified." 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

For those of you who were counting on a new post this past weekend, my apologies.  I was camping all weekend with my son, and somewhat far away from internet access.  For the past several weeks, I have been focusing on what it takes to run to win.  I wrote about how, for many of us, we will never be able to actually win a race, but in Christ we can win at life.  I have also followed that up by writing about the physical and spiritual implications of proper fuel, hydration, recovery, and training.  Along the vein of training, I spent some time going over the whys and hows of Aerobic Base Training and Lactate Threshold training, and their correlations in our spiritual race of life.  To wrap up this series on running to win, I want to take take a look at the last major form of training: the VO2Max workout.

What is VO2Max, you ask?  If you can harken back to your High School chemestry class, you will remember that O2 is Oxygen. VO2Max is the maximum capacity of an individual's body to transport and use oxygen during exercise.  When you inhale air, the air goes into the lungs.  Once inside the lungs, a certain amount of the oxygen within the air is transported into the blood stream, and carbon dioxide within the blood stream is tranported to the air in the lungs.  Then you exhale.  This process is called respiration.  A person's VO2Max is determined by measuring the concentrations of oxygen and carbon dioxide withing the inhaled and exhaled air.  As the intensity of exercise is increased, oxygen consumption increases.  The point at which exercise intensity continues to increase, but oxygen consumption stops increasing is the VO2Max. 

VO2Max is a very good indicator of an athlete's level of conditioning and ability to perform.  If you have been reading these posts for the past few weeks, you have learned the very important role oxygen plays in efficiently converting fuel into energy.  The more oxygen you can consume, the more efficient your body can process fuel to create energy, and the faster and farther you can run before hitting the aerobic/anaerobic threshold.  For the most part, a person's VO2Max is determined by heredity and genetics, but through proper training, a person's VO2Max can be increased. Here is a short article in Runner's World about How to Improve Your vo2 Max.

VO2Max workouts are pretty intense, for in them, you push your body to the point of maximum oxygen consumption.  One way to determine the pace at which to run your VO2Max workouts is to look at your pace during a recent 5k race.  VO2Max pace is about 15-30 seconds faster than your 5k race pace.  If you have a heart rate monitor, you should try running your VO2Max workouts in the 85-95% zone (that's 85-95% of your maximum heart rate).  If you don't have a heart rate monitor and you haven't actually raced any 5Ks in a while, then a VO2Max interval should feel like an 85-90% effort…not an all-out sprint, but a strenuous enough pace where conversation is near impossible.  Are you getting the picture?  You are going to be huffing and puffing.  You are going to be pushing your body to the point that it is desperate for air.  Thankfully, VO2Max sessions are not long... just intense.  The idea behind a VO2Max workout is to have several short intervals of intense exercise followed by a short period of recovery.  You never want to start a VO2Max workout cold.  You should first start out with an easy warm-up mile, followed by a few minutes of stretching. Once you have warmed up, initially try running 3-4 intervals that are 800 meters long (2 times around a track) at your VO2Max pace. As you progress over the weeks, work up to 5-8 intervals. Between each interval, Take a 3-4 minute recovery walk/jog.  Once your workout is complete, follow it up with a 1/2 mile to a mile cool down run... then stretch some more.  Because of the intensity of the workouts and your body’s need to recover & rebuild, be sure that you limit VO2Max workouts to once per week.  If you stay consistant with these workouts, over time you will not only see improvements in fitness and speed, but you will be able to go longer, faster.

Through out our lives, if we are truly walking in obedience to the will and purposes of God, He will lead is through some spiritual VO2Max workouts... times when we are completely in over our head... where there is no possible way that we can do what He is calling us to do in our own strength... where we have no choice but to rely on His grace... where we are completely and utterly desperate for the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Those times are incredibly intense.  Thankfully, they are usually relatively short, but they aren't easy... but through the challenge, our faith grows exponentially and our capacity for walking fully in the Spirit increases: we learn what it truly means to walk by faith and not by sight.  Throughout the Bible, we see story after story where God calls ordinary people to do extraordinary things through His equipping.  Just before Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, He said this to Peter:

"Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren." Luke 22:31-32

If you know much about the Apostle Peter, you know that he was sifted like wheat... but after the sifting, he walked in faith and obedience even unto a torturous death.

In the book of 2nd Corinthians, Paul writes about one such trying time:

"So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, 'My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.' So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthans 12:7-10

Throughout his ministry life, Paul was ridiculed, beaten and stoned and left for dead, shipwrecked, bitten by a poisonous snake, sentenced to death, and eventually beheaded.  Toward the end of His ministry, while being imprisoned, he wrote this:

"I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:11-13

Our intense trials of faith may not be as intense as Peter's or Paul's... but they can be pretty scary.  One of my such trials was around the birth of my first child.  At that time, my wife and I both worked, and my wife's salary was slightly higher and more consistent than mine - but even with 2 incomes, we were living paycheck to paycheck, barely making ends meet.  After our daughter was born, my wife and I really sensed God calling us to become a single income family so that Lea (my wife) could stay at home and care for and raise our daughter.  At that time, that was an absolutely ludicrous idea.  My wages were some $400 - $500 dollars a month short of our bills, much less our necessities like food and clothing.  Talk about an intense testing of our faith.  But God told us that if we trusted in Him and obeyed, He would provide for our needs... so we went against all sound reason, and Lea quit her job.  For the next 3 - 4 months, we watch miracle after miracle as God provided for us until I was blessed with a job (that I wasn't qualified for) that paid me more than Lea and I were both making before.  Our daughter is now 14 years old, and we have a 10 year-old son.  We are still a single income family... and we have yet to go without the things we need.  My life is full of stories like this: where God called me out in the deep water... where I was in way over my head, but He was faithful to provide.  His faithfulness has never failed.  Because of times like these, my faith is solid and strong... through the intense times, I learned to "consume" the work of His Holy Spirit in me and through me, and because of His sufficient grace, I can go long and endure.  Whenever God leads us into something where there seems to be no way, God says, "Way."  Whatever God calls us to do or go through - they are all possible through Him.

Let's run the race and learn to breathe deep, the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Run to Win: Lactate Threshold Training

"Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified." 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

I recently ran across a book entitled "Runner's World The Runner's Body: How the Latest Exercise Science Can Help You Run Stronger, Longer, and Faster." In the introduction of the book, the authors mention that the single most fundamental tenet of exercise physiology is the principle of stress and adaptation.  According to the authors, there are three main phases in the stress and adaptation process: "an initial alarm stage, followed by a period of resistance or adaptation, when the organism gets stronger and performs better (which is, of course, where you want to be as a runner). This leads, if the stress is not removed, to exhaustion." Lactate Threshold training is all about riding the line between adaptation and exhaustion, with the purpose of pushing that line (or threshold) higher.

Last week, I talked a little about the difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercise and the metabolism of stored fuel into usable energy.  One of the products of the metabolism process is lactic acid.  As lactic acid is moved from muscle cells into the blood stream, it is converted into lactate.  Lactate, in and of itself, is not a bad thing.  In fact, blood lactate can actually be metabolized and used as an energy source.  The body is always producing lactate.  As it produces lactate, it also removes it from the blood stream and uses it.  During exercise, the body produces more lactate, and also uses more lactate.  Because of that, things stay pretty balanced... that is until you reach the lactate threshold.  As exercise intensity increases, there comes a point at which lactate removal fails to keep up with the rate of lactate production. This point is referred to as the lactate threshold.  Interestingly, for many runners, the lactate threshold occurs near the same effort level that marks the switch from aerobic exercise to anaerobic exercise.  This is why many times the lactate threshold is also referred to as the aerobic threshold or the anaerobic threshold.

One of the changes that occurs as lactic acid is converted to lactate is the lactic acid's loss of hydrogen ions.  If you remember from last week, during aerobic exercise, oxygen is present during the metabolic process.  As a runner is exercising in their aerobic zone, those hydrogen ions are combined with oxygen to create water, canceling out any negative effects.  Once a runner slips into the anaerobic zone, the muscles begin producing more lactic acid than the body can effectively remove, and hydrogen ion concentrations begin to rise because there is no oxygen present to "neutralize" it.  As hydrogen ion concentration increases, the muscle cells become more and more acidic.  This process is called acidocis.  Currently, acidocis is thought to be a primary factor in muscular fatigue. It interferes with efficient and proper muscle contraction, and as a result, power output drops, suffering increases, and eventually, the runner is forced to slow down or stop.

God created the human body to be extremely adaptable.  If you stress your current bodily state, after some time and consistency, your body will adapt to better handle the stress.  That is what training is all about: stressing your body so that it adapts in a positive way, allowing you to perform better. If the stress of training is of optimal duration and intensity, your body begins adapting.  If the training stress is too hard, you will break down, develop injuries, feel fatigued, and fail to recover from one day to the next.  If the stress of training is too weak and does not test your bodily systems, your body will not see the need to make any adaptations.  If there are no stresses placed on your body, then your body will adapt to that as well by becomming less and less fit.  Lactate threshold training is all about hitting the optimal duration and intensity that causes your body to adapt by improving on lactate absorption, aerobic metabolism, and oxygen consumption, so that you the runner can run furter and faster without hitting that lactate threshold that eventually leads to fatigue, burn-out, and pain.

The theory behind lactate threshold training is that if you run for a somewhat extended period of time at your lactate threshold, then your body will make the proper adaptations and move that threshold point higher.  Since threshold training is performed at the very top of the aerobic zone, it is not going to feel extremely comfortable.  These are not easy and relaxed base training runs.  I have heard threshold runs described as being "comfortably hard."  When running in that zone, you aren't sucking wind like a hyperventilating asthmatic... but you aren't able to carry a conversation for very long either.  If you use a heart rate monitor, typically lactate threshold training is performed around 80% - 85% of your maximum heart rate.  If you have run a 10k race before (actually run it to your best ability, not jogged it) then threshold pace is about 10-15 seconds slower that your 10k pace.  If you don't have a heart rate monitor and haven't run a 10k recently, then comfortably hard is probably the best descriptor of how you should feel: your breathing is no longer a relaxed "2 steps in, 2 steps out" rate, but has transitioned to more of a "2 steps in, 1 step out" rate.  A popular Lactate Training workout is known as the "Tempo Run."  It's not complicated, but it is challenging: first warm up, slow and easy, for about 10 minutes... then gradually speed up to a lactate threshold effort level/pace and stay there for about 20-30 minutes... then slow down and cool down at a slow and easy pace for about 10 minutes.  That gives you a really good 40-50 minute workout.  Once you have a good aerobic base established, if you add one tempo run to your weekly running plan, you will begin to see some definite improvement to your fitness and your performance... and with consistancy, will be able to go further and faster.

Just as our bodily systems need to be tested in order to see improvement, our spiritual walk needs to be tested in order to experience growth.  That is why the Apostle James (the brother of Jesus) wrote this in His epistle:

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect (mature) and complete, lacking nothing." James 1:2-4

And why the Apostle Paul wrote this:

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Romans 5:1-5

This is an interesting commentary on human nature: if you have been following my blog for a while, you know that true followers of Jesus have been transformed... they have been reborn spiritually with a new nature... a nature that is free from sin.  However, though we are reborn spiritually, we still live in the same bodies - the same flesh that we were born with.  And though we are promised, as followers of Jesus, that God will give us the power, ability, and desire to do all that He asks of us - when the going begins to get tough - we go to the flesh.  Instead of relying on what the Bible calls the all-sufficient grace of God that we receive through the Holy Spirit, we rely on our own abilities.  It's almost like we don't trust God to actually help us, so we fall to our own resources.  For me personally, this is a big challenge.  I'm always trying to do the hard things in my own strength.  Just as we found out last week that we can run with much more endurance when we run aerobically rather than anaerobically, we can also run through the tough stuff and come out winners when we run by the Spirit instead of running in the flesh.  What we need is to see our Spiritual lactate thresholds raised... so that we learn to do much more, and more difficult things in the Spirit instead of falling back on our flesh.  Wouldn't it be great to be able to face a difficult trial completely in the grace that God gives instead of sweating it out and burning ourselves out in our own stength and understanding?  That's why James said to count trials as joy, and why Paul said to glory in tribulations.  They knew that if we allowed trials and tribulations to have their proper place in our lives, we would be changed for the better.  Adaptation is a natural process... and when we allow trials and tribulations to have their place, there are adaptations that occur in our lives - but here is the even better news: Not only can we count on adaptation - by the Holy Spirit, we can count on complete transformation as well.  That's right!  Where adaptation is temporary, transformation is complete.  If we embrace trials and tribulations and challenges, if we lay aside personal preferences and pleasures and allow the Holy Spirit to work in us, we will be transformed... we will become mature and complete... we will have spiritual perseverance and impeccable character.

I've been planning on writing this post for several weeks, but the timing in which this post fell is pretty amazing.  Just yesterday, the leaders in our church called us to a 52 day challenge: 52 days of focused intensity on the things that God has called us to do: as in not just talking about them, but actually doing them.  I'm looking at these next 52 days as a Spiritual Tempo Run... where the pace picks up and it gets a little uncomfortable... and I'm also believeing that in the wake of this, there are going to be some serious spiritual atheletes, with an increased capacity to run the race, and run it well.

So... let's embrace the challenge... let's run the race... and look forward to the benefits.

Run to Win: Aerobic Base Training

"Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified." 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 - New Living Translation

In the world of exercise, there are 2 main types of activities: aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise.  The prefix 'aero' is actually a Greek word meaning air.  Aerodynamics and aerobatics are words that have to do with air.  Aerobic is an adjective that has describes the involvement of air.  The 'an' in anaerobic is a negative, so anaerobic is an adjective that describes something that doesn't involve air.  You are probably thinking, "How can exercise be anaerobic if all exercise involves air?"  Well, let me explain.  When tagged with exercise, aerobic refers to the use of oxygen in the body's metabolic or energy-generating process.  Conversely, anaerobic exercise is exercise that uses energy resident in the muscle tissues and does not involve oxygen in the generation process.

There are basically two ways in which energy is stored in the body: glycogen and fat.  The majority of a body's glycogen stores are in the liver while some small amounts of glycogen are stored directly in the muscle fibers and other organs.  Once the body's glycogen stores are "full", any remaining energy is stored as fat.  Initially, during aerobic exercise, glycogen is broken down to produce glucose; which then reacts with oxygen, producing carbon dioxide and water, and releasing energy. As glycogen stores are used up, fat metabolism is initiated instead.  Fat metabloism is a much slower process than glycogen metabolism. The sensation of running out of glycogen and switching over completely to fat as an energy source is known by runners as "hitting the wall."  In anaerobic exercise, the glycogen within the muscle fibers is burned without reacting with oxygen.  That process burns up muscle glycogen rather quickly, therefore anaerobic exercise can not be sustained for very long.  Operating anaerobically, an untrained 400 meter sprinter may "hit the wall" before even completing the full 400 meters.

Not only can understanding the differences between aerobic and anaerobic exercise help with our physical training, it can also help us become much more efficient spiritual athletes as well.  In a previous blog post (Run to Win: Fuel), I talked about how the physical food that we eat symbolizes the spiritual food that we consume.  The same is true of the basic components of the metabolism process.  Basically the food that we eat is the Word of God: Rhema words and Logos Word.  Those words are stored within us... in our heart, in our psyche, in our spirit:

"I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you." Psalm 119:11 - New Living Translation

The stored Rhema words are similar to glycogen stores: readily available and efficient stores of energy.  When we remember and/or rehearse those specific, spoken, pulsating-with-life words that we have receive from the Lord, we are using our glycogen stores.  The large chunks of the Bible that we memorize - verses like John 3:16-17, Psalm 23, Psalm 24, Psalm 133, Proverbs 3:5-7, Matthew 5:3-16, Matthew 6:9-15, and Hebrews 12:1-3, to name a few - are like our fat stores.  They may not be as dynamic as our remembered and rehearsed Rhema words, but they are long lasting and fuel us when all other fuels have run dry.  Just as we can either exercise aerobically or anaerobically (and one is much more efficient than the other), we can also choose to walk according to the Spirit or according to the flesh:

"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die (or at least seriously "hit the wall"); but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." Romans 8:12-14

"I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." Galatians 5:16

When we walk or run in the Spirit, the Spirit works much like oxygen does in the metabolic cycle: it helps us process the Word and the words of God and applies them to our life in the way that works best.  If instead, we decide to run the race in the flesh, we burn up and squander the words that God has spoken to us and over us, leaving us empty, burned-out and completely spent - much like that untrained runner that I mentioned earlier, trying to run a 400 meter sprint, only to come up short before the finish.

In order to strengthen our bodies' aerobic abilities (both physically and spiritually), we need to train.  As the Apostle Paul wrote, "all athletes are disciplined in their training." When training to win, there are three general types of running exercises that are employed to improve the body's aerobic capacity and overall fitness: Aerobic Base Training, Lactate Threshold Training, and VO2Max Training.  The first two are aerobic exercises, while the third is an anaerobic exercise.  Over the next few weeks, I want to spend some time talking about each of the three.  This week, I want to focus on the first and most fundamental part of endurance training: Aerobic Base Training.

In order to improve your body's aerobic fitness, you need to see improvements in oxygen delivery, energy production and utilization, and fat metabolism.  Since oxygen is transported from your lungs to your body in red blood cells by way of the circulatory system, you need to see improvements in blood circulation and heart efficiency as well.  Aerobic base training works on all of those.  Prolonged aerobic base training produces muscular adaptations that improve oxygen transport to the muscles and increases energy production and utilization. These adaptations occur slowly over time.  Over the course of a base period your body learns to break down and utilize fat as an energy source more efficiently. As an added bonus, this adaptation helps post-exercise fat metabolism as well. The fat we have stored in our bodies can actually provide enough energy to perform many distance events back to back. Glycogen depletion can occur in as little as one hour. The less muscle glycogen you utilize, the more efficient you are. Other adaptations of aerobic base training include increased stroke volume of the heart and capillary density.  Stroke volume increase simply means that your heart pumps more blood per beat. Increasing capillary density means that the body actually builds additional capillary vessels to effectively transport more blood to the working muscles. The process of building capillaries occurs gradually. Because high-stress training actually breaks down capillaries, base training is best for allowing the slow growth of capillaries.

For aerobic base training to be effective, it must be long, consistent, and performed a low to moderate levels of effort. The hard part of base training is having the discipline to train at these low intensities. It may mean running very slowly or even walking. It may mean laying aside what you are capable of doing to embrace what you need to do for a season. It may actually require you to lay aside the pride that you have in your accomplishments and instead, humble yourself to undergo the transformation/adaptation process that is needed to take you to the next level (sound familiar?).  I can tell you from my own experience, aerobic base training was initially one of the most frustrating things that I have ever undertaken on my own accord... but it ended up becomming one of the most rewarding.

The best way to insure that you stay within the aerobic base training zone is to use a heart rate monitor.  Your heart rate is probably the best measure of actual effort.  Many times, you may feel that you are running at a relaxed pace, only to find out that your heart is racing along near it's max.  If you don't have a heart rate monitor, you can judge your effort level based on how long your conversations are.  If you can carry on a lengthy conversation with your running partner, then chances are that you are at a good relaxed aerobic effort level.  If your sentences morph into one and two word replies, then you have stepped out of the aerobic zone. Also, when you are in the aerobic zone, you are fully aware of your surroundings.  As you creep into the anaerobic zone, your peripheral vision goes away and you get tunnel vision, where the only things you can see clearly are directly in front of you. If you do have a heart rate monitor, the aerobic base zone is typically between 55% - 75% of your maximum heart rate.  Initially, when I began aerobic base training with my heart rate monitor, staying in the aerobic base zone meant that I couldn't exceed a 12:30 pace without driving my heart rate up... and it also meant that I had to, at times, walk up hills.  For me, someone that was used to running at 9:00 - 8:30 pace, and at one time could rattle off mile after mile at 8:00 pace, that was extremely frustrating. What I soon found out, was that I was not as aerobically fit as I thought I was.

I can honestly say that there were many times that I just wanted to scrap the whole idea of aerobic base training.  In fact, there were a few times when I did. The sound of my heart rate alert going off everytime I began going up even the slightest incline drove me crazy... crazy enough that to keep from yelling at my watch, I just turned my alarm off and forgot about monitoring my effort for the rest of the run.  What kept me hanging in there and staying with the training plan was the word of many seasoned coaches that testified to the effectiveness of that type of training.  Then, lo and behold, as I stayed true to the training, I began to see improvement.  My 12:30 pace, soon became 12:00... then 11:00... then 10:00.  By the time my training period had ended, I was able to maintain a 9:30 pace for 15+ miles without exceeding the the 75% of Max threshold.  And because I was running at an easy effort, I was able to log more miles per week than I ever had in my 8 years of running... which translated into another great benefit: 10 pounds of weight loss.  Aerobic Base Training works and it should be, if you are serious about improving your fitness and your performance, the foundation of any training program you undertake.

How many times do you become frustrated at the spiritual course you are on.  Do you ever feel like the pace you are running is far to slow... That you are capable of so much more... but feeling like no one knows how gifted you are... no one knows the calling you have on your life... feeling like you are hidden and held back from really letting things loose and getting after the things God has called you to?  Sometimes the most difficult part of walking in the Spirit is having the discipline to hold back when He is saying to hold back.  Many times there are things that the Lord wants to develop in you so that you can go the distance with Him and not burn out after a month or two.  If God has called you to something, you can be assured that as long as you stay true to His training plan, He will bring it to pass.  Just like I ultimately had to trust in the word of the proven running coaches - even though I wasn't seeing any results and experiencing nothing but frustration; we all have to trust in the Word and words from our Lord.  He knows what we need and He knows the exercises that will work into and work out of us the adaptations and transformations that we need.  I love this scripture that King David wrote.  I think it summarizes this post perfectly:

"I will run the course of Your commandments, For You shall enlarge my heart." Psalm 119:32

Sounds like aerobic base training to me.

Let's run the race, remembering that slow and steady... well... wins the race.

Run to Win: Recovery

"Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified." 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 - New Living Translation

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that the 3 components of running to win are genetics, nutrition and training.  There isn't much that we can do on the genetics side of things (apart from being reborn - see Run to Win).  Over the past couple of weeks, I have focused on the nutrition component.  Beginning this week, and over the next few weeks, I want to look at the training aspect.  As Paul wrote in the scripture above, bodies have to be trained to do what they should.  In order to do that, we have to discipline our bodies.

Whenever someone jumps into a training plan for a long race, the first thing they look at is the number of miles that will need to be run, or how difficult and challenging the workouts will be.  After all, it's the hard work that gets us in shape... it's the hard work that disciplines us, right?  Isn't discipline supposed to be hard and painful?  We've all grown up with the saying, "No pain, no gain," and that is what we expect from a good training plan.  It is true that you do need to challenge and stretch your body inorder to grow and improve as a runner... but before we jump into the fray of this workout vs that workout, I want to take a look at an often overlooked but very critical area of a training plan: recovery.

This may seem a bit counter-intuitive, but much of the benefit of any workout comes in the time after the workout, while the runner is recovering from the stress he just put on his body. Recovery periods give the nervous, endocrine and musculoskeletal systems a break from the traumas of training, and the opportunity to carry out some vital repair work. Runners need to give their bodies a chance to grow and repair themselves after their workouts are complete. It is during the recovery process that runners actually reap the benefits of the workouts themselves, for it is the repair work that actually makes their bodies stronger, more responsive, and more physically fit.

Because I can't say it any better, I want to share with you a blog post that was written by Terrence Mahon, coach to some of our country's best elite runners:

Balance Your Training with Recovery - By Terrence Mahon

September 17, 2010

Long distance running is a labor of love. To be a great distance runner requires a lot of work and a lot of time. Major career goals for the elites are planned over 8 and 12 years spans. It is not uncommon for these world class runners to log over 80 miles a week for 48 weeks a year for 8 years before one sees the results necessary to reach the podium. Most sports scientists will tell you that this number may be modest and it may be more in the range of 10 years of aerobic conditioning needed to compete at the very top levels of international distance running.

To put it in a different light we see that these athletes will be running somewhere between 30,000-40,000 miles before they are ever in serious contention to chase an Olympic medal. All of this adds up to a lot of time on their feet and a lot of dedication to the sport. What often separates the great distance runners from the good ones is not in how much work they can endure, rather it is how well they listen to their bodies.

Great athletes understand that their desire to train harder and run faster is governed primarily by their ability to recover. If they have not yet recovered from the last hard training session then to do another intense workout would put them in a deeper training hole than is warranted.

Sometimes the smartest plan for the day is to not push too hard on the run or workout and to let the fitness come to the athlete. Or in fact, it may even be better to take a rest completely and allow the body to fully recover before challenging it again. As we are working through Ryan’s preparations for Chicago we are seeing great increases in his aerobic fitness in a very short time. His 15k uphill run this week was 3 minutes faster than the one just 2 weeks ago. That is a huge improvement in a very short time.

Obviously a workout adaptation like that one will get him excited and chomping at the bit to do more. However, when I see times drop like that I have come to understand that we need to hold on to the reins a little harder as the race is still well down the road. Good training is not always about pushing to go harder and harder or faster and faster. Good training is when you understand that this pace is fast enough and it is just the right effort for where I am now in my preparations.

I have also come to understand that as the workouts get faster and faster that there becomes a feeling of invincibility in the mind of the athlete. This is a phenomenal state of being, but also a precarious one. Over a few cracked eggs of my own I have learned that when this form starts to take shape then it is time to start adding in additional recovery periods. It is because Ryan can now start to dig deeper into his mental and physical reserves when doing his marathon preparation that he needs to recover even more. The system must always maintain a balance of stress and recovery. The harder he pushes the more he must rest. The lessons of the elites are great lessons for all runners.

As we balance families, jobs, weekend tasks and more there is a constant challenge to do it all. I believe that this is one of the allures of the marathon as it is one of the Everest challenges that we seek to achieve from such a work ethic. It is an event for those athletes that love to test their resolve as it rewards them more for their dedication than talent. Unfortunately I have seen many marathon build ups get squashed by injuries, fatigue or illness when the runner pushed themselves beyond the limit. If we can all understand that a balance must be maintained in training, as in life, then we will make great progress towards the finish line. Rest must follow work.

These are interconnected states of being for all athletes. You cannot have one without the other. If we keep the system in balance then the finish line will be there sooner than you think.

If you are interested, here is Ryan Hall's take on the importance of rest and recovery during hard training that he posted a couple of weeks ago: To Run or Not to Run?

In our race of life, it is also key to our success and survival to include times of rest and recovery into our day.  In our driven American culture, it is easy to fall into the trap of burning our candle at both ends, trying to do everything ourselves, and never taking the time to recover and recuperate. If we are disciples (or followers) of Jesus, then our discipline is to follow His disciplines.  If we take a look at Jesus' life, we see that He had the discipline of including times of recovery and rejuvenation in His busy schedule.  This is what His recovery time looked like:

"So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed." - Luke 5:16

"Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God." - Luke 6:12

"And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying 'Who do the crowds say that I am?'" - Luke 9:18

"Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, 'Lord, teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples.'" - Luke 11:1

"Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His discipled also followed Him. When He came to the place, He said to them, 'Pray that you may not enter into temptation.' And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, 'Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.'" - Luke 22:39-42

Some have called the Gospel of Luke a gospel of prayers with signs, wonders and miracles in between. Throughout the book, we see Jesus going to the "secret place" to spend time with His Father in order to be strengthened, empowered, rejuvenated and refocused... and afterward, we see Him moving in great power and authority: people being healed, forgiven, delivered from demonic posession, raised from the dead... you name it.  It was because of His times of rest and recovery with His Father, that He was able to move in such profound ways and ultimately (as we see in the Luke 22 passage) win the race.

As we train and discipline ourselves, let's make sure that we do not forget to rest and recover... and as we run the race, let's keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and not forsake the secret place of prayer and communion with our Father.  It is critical.

Let's run the race as Jesus did... making time for the secret place.

Run to Win: Hydration

"Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified." 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 - New Living Translation

 Last week we took a look at properly fueling your body for optimum performance and recovery.  As important as good and healthy food is for running, proper hydration is even more important. Proper nutrition can be the difference between a good run and a great run. Proper hydration can be the difference between life and death... it really is that important.

Without water, there is no life.  Believe it or not, the human body is 55-60% water.  That's right... more than half of you is water. To remain alive and functioning properly, you need to keep a healthy amount of water in your body. Throughout the course of the day, we are constantly losing water, whether through perspiration, evaporation, respiration, urination, etc. Since we are constantly losing water, we have to consistantly replace the water that we lose.  Otherwise, we will become dehydrated.  It is a never-ending process.

Why is hydration so key to running to win?  I'm glad you asked.  As we learned last week, to get energy and power from your muscles, you need fuel and oxygen.  That fuel and oxygen is transported to your cells via the bloodstream. Blood is about 70% water (about 50% in the blood plasma and 20% in the blood cells). Blood is also responsible for removing waste (like lactic acid) from the muscle cells.  As you run, you lose water through perspiration and the water vapor in your breath.  If you do not replace some of that lost water, you will become dehydrated.  As you become deydrated, the percent of water in the blood plasma decreases and your blood becomes more viscous (or thick) - which makes the heart have to work all the more to maintain blood flow through your lungs and into your muscles.  Also, your overall blood volume decreases.  To compensate, your blood cells release some of their water into the blood plasma, making them less effective, and the blood vessels constrict to maintain blood pressure... which inturn also makes blood flow more challenging.  Are you starting to get the picture?  Less blood flow means less oxygen and fuel getting to the muscles (and brain as well) and less lactic acid being removed... which means you start breathing harder (because you need more oxygen) and your heart starts beating harder and harder and your muscles begin to ache and fatigue due to the presence of lactic acid.  Meanwhile, your core body temperature begins to rise because the blood is not able to effectively keep your body cooled.  If this process continues, it just gets worse and worse and can become pretty serious.  Not only are red blood cells (the cells responsible for transporting oxygen) and plasma (the part of the blood carrying fuel and removing waste) present in the blood, but white blood cells are also present. White blood cells are cells of the immune system involved in defending the body against both infectious disease and foreign materials. It would stand to reason that if the effectiveness of your circulatory system is reduced due to dehydration, then your immune system would be compromised as well.  So hydration is extremely important, not only as we run to win, but in staying healthy and alive.

The best way to prevent dehydration is to stay hydrated.  Depending on the rate at which you sweat, it may be unreasonable to replace all lost fluids as you run.  A good way to determine the amount of fluids lost through perspiration is to weigh yourself before and after a run. 1 pound of weight loss = about a pint of fluid.  I can easlily lose 4 - 5 pounds in a long run of an hour or more.  That equal to 1/2 gallon or more.  I can't imagine drinking that much water while running.  In fact, the body can't even process that much water at once.  So the best thing to do is make sure you are well hydrated before you run, replace some lost fluids while you run, and make sure you replace the remaining amount of lost fluids over the next few hours after a run.

Not only does the body lose fluids through perspiration, it also loses electrolytes. The water in the body is not "fresh" water.  It has minerals mixed in it that are called electrolytes. Electrolytes are important because they are what your cells (especially nerve, heart, muscle) use to maintain voltages across their cell membranes and to carry electrical impulses (nerve impulses, muscle contractions) across themselves and to other cells.  Two commonly known electrolytes found in the body are sodium and potassium.  If you have ever tasted the sweat that comes from your body, it tastes salty.  That is because the sweat contains the electrolyte sodium chloride (also known as salt).  One mistake that endurance runners (or walkers) often make is replacing fluids without replacing electrolytes. Drinking a lot of plain water with no added electrolytes can create an electrolyte imbalance.  This can also prove to be a serious and potentially deadly mistake.  The body likes to maintain a balance of salinity between the fluids outside of its cells and the fluids inside its cells.  When the fluids outside of the cells become less "salty", the less salty water rushes into the cells to create a balance.  This causes the cells to swell. Most cells can handle the swelling, but brain cells (because they are encased in the skull) cannot. The condition associated with low sodium levels in the body is called hyponatremia.  Some of the symptoms of hyponatremia are confusion, hallucinations, drowsiness, nausia and vomiting, muscle weakness, convulsions, etc.  Not a pretty sight. The body can also suffer from low levels of potassium.  This condition is called hypokalemia.  Symptoms of hypokalemia are abnormal heart rhythms, fatigue, muscle weakness and spasms/cramps, even paralysis.  It is important, if you are replacing a lot of fluids that were lost during exercise, that you also replace electrolytes as well.  Many popular sports drinks like Gatorade and Powerade have electrolytes in them.

Now you know that proper hydration is key in running to win. My question now is can you become spiritually dehydrated?  Let's look at the symptoms of dehydration and apply them to our race of life and see.  Dryness: ever feel like your life has just dryed up... or that you are walking through a barren desert? The eyes stop making tears: ever suffer from "dry-eye disease, where you just don't feel anything... you are just numb to the world? Muscle cramps: every move you make just hurts or you are just tense and you are quick to snap out at those around you for no reason at all? Heart palpitations... confusion... weakness... possibly even becoming comatose.  Have you ever experienced any of these?  I ask you again... can we become spiritually dehydrated?  I think, yes.  What is the cure? Where is the prevention?

In the Gospel of John, Jesus says this: "Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life (John 4:13-14 - New Living Translation)."  Later in the Gospel of John, Jesus stands up in the midst of a crowd and shouts this out: "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from the heart of anyone who believes in me’ (John 4:37-38)." The cure and the prevention for spiritual dehydration is coming to Jesus and believing in Him. And I imagine the Living Water that He gives us is perfectly balanced with all the things that we need.  Worship is the fountain head for all that we have need of.  Jesus has promised that if we come to Him and remain with Him, we will never experience spiritual dryness.  He may lead us through some dry places, but as long as we stay with Him, we will be an oasis of life in the midst of the desert.  Now, if we stop coming to Jesus, we can expect to experience a little dehydration.  Dehydration is serious stuff... both physically and spiritually. But it is preventable.

Let's run the race... Hydrated with rivers of living water!