What Are You Running For? | July 2025

Dear Friends,

I started running again mostly because my son asked me to run a half marathon with him. I was excited that he wanted me to do anything at all with him and I didn’t hesitate to say “yes!” I am very aware that my time with him is fleeting. Flipping through old photo albums recently, I even found pictures of myself as a child, grinning from ear to ear at the start of neighborhood and school races – a reminder that running has been part of my journey for a long time.

I haven't run a half marathon since 2018 (maybe 2017?). So, I started running again, slowly adding mileage. I was set back because of our recent 2 week vacation. Upon my return, I started running just 1 mile a day to rebuild my endurance and mileage. As I ran the other day, I started to feel labored early on and I heard the Lord say to me, "Why are you laboring, why are you pushing yourself?" In my mind I thought if I'm going to train for this, I want to beat my personal record (PR) which means I would have to run a sub 9 minute mile to finish the half marathon in under 2 hours (which is my current PR). That was my response to God and I was reminded of the book I'd been reading called "Chi Running". In it, it talks about breathing 'properly' and relaxing when you run because running should be enjoyable. I've run 4 half marathons in my life and running has never been 'enjoyable' to me (funnily enough, looking at old photos of me as a child, eagerly lining up for races, you'd think I was born loving every stride). I heard God's voice and remembered what I'd read and I began relaxing into my run and my breathing slowed and I just entered into the moment and, lo and behold, my breathing became easier, I felt more relaxed, and my speed naturally increased! Then, I heard from God again ... this is how you live your life ... you strive and labor and you know not why you do it. I felt like God was challenging me to THINK about EVERYTHING and to REALLY take the time to understand why.

I WANT to run with my son. It brings me joy to know he still wants to do things with me. Why do I have to beat my PR? Why can't I just ENJOY the experience with my son regardless of worrying about the result?

I think in life, we all have a tendency to get swept up in “keeping up with the Joneses” and we don’t even really know why. We hear the term “rat race” and we laugh. Yet, why does life have to be a race at all? Why are we all so in a rush to get from one place to another, a rush for one season of life to end to get to another? In all of our rushing do we ever have time to enjoy the here and now? How many sunsets have I missed? How many moments did I rush to only wish I could go back there?

My lesson here, which is a lesson I’ve been faced with before at different seasons of my life, is to enjoy the life that we’re given. The times we feel tempted to make that goal or get to that next destination as fast as we can (literally and figuratively), I encourage us all to stop and ask ourselves, “What’s the rush?” and “Why is this so important to me?” We might discover that what we really desire isn’t what we’re striving for at all.

Looking back at pictures of myself as a child, full of unburdened joy before those school races, reminds me that the spirit of 'enjoying the run' truly begins from within.

Enjoy the run!

With love,

Rica