Faith

I was trying to pep-talk another runner who said, " I don't know if I can do this," and I found myself reassuring her that running is a tremendous leap of faith.  When I begin a race or a run of any distance,  I have no assurance that I will finish, let alone feel good doing it.  The thought of running twenty miles (or even five miles or one, some days) can be pretty overwhelming.  Without faith, I wouldn't dare even begin.  But a runner who has faith can be brave enough to take that first step.

A runner has to have faith in the coach, trusting that Coach has prepared the athlete adequately to run.  Likewise, the runner also has to have faith that the workouts have been appropriate and have been completed in a manner that will allow her to race at her best. I know that my past workouts have made me strong enough to finish the workout in front of me today.  (I used to calm pre-race nerves by relying on my faith in my coaches and assuring myself that they had done everything possible to prepare me or the day's race. ) 

Further, faith is a motivator for work, because faith would be incomplete without taking those first few steps out the door. I can have all the faith in the world that I could run a five minute mile, but without actually training for it, my faith wouldn't be any good. But because I want to turn my faith into knowledge, I am willing to do the work.  

So if there is a life lesson in this, here it is.  Faith is believing that we can accomplish the unseen task ahead of us, and even the simplest task requires faith.  Don't be afraid to try your faith, but let faith move you to action to run farther or faster than you ever have before.  

Happy running.