Caution; Uneven Surface!

Running at the Greenbelt, this sign is posted on the railroad track bridge that goes across the trail. 

This sign pretty much says it all! Life often feels like this: trying to run on an uneven surface. This has been one of those times in life that felt particularly uneven for me.  This week I went for a "scenic" run and by that I mean that I took my camera and took pictures as often as I desired along my running route at the Greenbelt. I didn't worry about my time or pace or how many times I stopped. This run turned out to be a metaphor for how things are going around here right now. I was running on an uneven surface and there were snakes ahead!! But along the way there was amazing and peaceful beauty! And it was just a little green snake this time!!

I came upon the snake quickly and sort of lept over him. He slithered forward a little, I stopped and took several pictures of him, he was very cooperative!

 On this particular day, Dean and I ran with hundreds (perhaps thousands) of painted lady butterflies. They covered the trail. At first I was afraid I would squash them but at what seemed like the last second the group immediately in front of us would fly up and flutter around us. This set off a chain reaction so that literally for miles I ran with fluttering butterflies. We went back to the same trail the next day and possibly due to more bicycle traffic the butterflies had for the most part moved on. We were grateful to have run on a day when they were there. How often do you get to run with so many butterflies? Some of them would glide along beside me. Every once in a while one of the cluster would decide to "run" with me or maybe I was "flying" with him! Sometimes when we run on the track, if there is no one around and especially if it is at night, I will close my eyes and run as fast as I can and even though I am very slow by any standard, it feels like flying! 

 

The stresses in my life recently have been made worse by me. If I use church language then I would say my sinful nature, my sinful thoughts and my sinful attitudes have made my situations worse. "Sinful" is a serious word but sometimes it feels like I hide behind church language. What I should say is that I have had selfish thoughts and attitudes, I have had doubts, I have not trusted God. It helps me to run in a beautiful place, to see God's creation, something outside myself that I cannot control, much like my circumstances. God created the fanciful butterflies that "ran" with me and he created the little green snake and He also allows the uneven surfaces of my life. In my better moments (and these are usually when I am running) I readily agree with Job...the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord!

 

Running plan for week 3

Week #	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
1	Rest Day	40min	40min		45 min	Rest Day	60 min

What I actually did for week 3

Week #	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
1		3miles repeats 9:31, 9:09, 9:20				3.95 miles scenic run	5.04 miles 52:13

 
By now, week 3, it is obvious that I am simply NOT going to follow the training plan. I will either continue to use this plan as a general guideline or in a week or two I will look for a new plan. On the second day of running at the Greenbelt there were only a few butterflies but I did get to run under the train as it sped over the bridge. I love to run under the train!! Happy running!