Recent Beach Runs

By the summer of 2011, I had gained some discipline in running.  By this point, running has become an important & joyful part of my day.  I tend to run every morning (except the occasional morning such as today, when I am weary from watching my beloved Red Sox spectacularly end their season late last night).  So I have more at stake now than I did some years ago.  In years gone by, a running injury would have only been a disappointment for that week.  But now, it would rob me of something quite important to me.

Accordingly, gone are the days of ascetic running.  It used to be that I would run as long & hard as I could going one direction on the beach, forcing me to go essentially twice as far as my body wanted to go.  But now, I have a little bit of knowledge; and knowledge leads to caution.  Injury is the bane of runners, since there’s really no getting around the extent to which you rely on your body for such activity.  Experts in books and blogs continually warn about the danger of injury.

My 2011 beach trips reflected a healthier attitude toward running.  However, as my respect for the endeavor has waxed, it had been at the expense of the asceticism that used to drive the activity.  Even as I used my two beach trips this year to run harder than I would as part of my routine, my efforts were tempered by the repeated warnings about injury that I’ve come across.

My running has become less prayerful and more process-driven over time.  I am no longer blessed with the mystical union of which running used to avail me.  My “marching orders” are not so predictably forthcoming anymore.  The ecstasy of my special week of running at the beach has diminished.

However, I now experience a joy which is renewed every time I run. 

It seems that maturity in running may indeed have parallels to religious growth.  The mountaintop bliss that a teenager experiences at summer church camp must give way to something that sustains and is sustainable throughout the year.  The glorious epiphanies that mark the beginning of a religious life need to give rise to commitment and dedication if their substance is genuine.

One cannot be a genuine Christian for only a week a year.  Nor indeed can one be a genuine runner.