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Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

October 28, 2010

In a fog

Week 6, Day 3. Yep, we’re approaching week 7. This morning we woke up to fog, so I donned the reflector belt while Phil decided the stroller’s reflectors would be enough for his safety. We didn’t meet much traffic so it wasn’t that big of a deal anyway.

The thing about fog is that you can’t see well where you’re going. We Google mapped a 2.2 mile route, so I had a picture in my head of how far we’d gone, but I had to jog by memory and faith along the way as I determined where we were at on the journey.

As we ran up the final hill, I knew that we had less than a mile to go, and I was encouraged; I can do this, I told myself. When Phil jogged in place so we could be side by side for the last three blocks, I found new energy. I could see the end, so I jogged all the faster.

And I thought about all the hard stuff of life. How sometimes it’s like being in a fog, and even if you know the way, you can’t always see exactly where you’re at. Sometimes I get tired of enduring the junk this world offers us, and I want to know that the end is near. That it’s almost over. Not in a fatalistic, I’m sick of this kind of way, but in a relief sort of way. Like saying, Finally. I don’t have to struggle anymore.

I know the Bible offers us hope an end will come, even if it comes through our deaths. I just have to keep reminding myself that this won’t go on forever and every step is progress.

So, as far as running goes, good-bye 2.2 mile run. Hello, 2.5 mile run for the next three training days. Oh yeah, and we ran today’s route in 29 minutes, about 90 seconds longer than our 2 mile run a week ago.

Progress! It’s all about gaining ground.

Filed Under: Our first 5K Tagged With: couch to 5K, death, endurance, fitness, fog, hope, life sucks, perseverance, running

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Welcome

Hi. I’m Lisa, and I’m glad you’re here. If we were meeting in real life, I’d offer you something to eat or drink while we sat on the porch letting the conversation wander as it does. That’s a little bit what this space is like. We talk about books and family and travel and food and running, whatever I might encounter in world. I’m looking for the beauty in the midst of it all, even the tough stuff. (You’ll find a lot of that here, too.) Thanks for stopping by. Stay as long as you like.

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