Although I love sports and at one time was a well-conditioned athlete want-a-be, those years have long passed in my life. And yet I find myself surrounded by family members and friends who are tremendous models of physical fitness and their example inspires me to not be satisfied to stay on the sidelines. So recently, I have begun training for a 5 mile race scheduled for later this fall.
The timing of the beginning of my training also coincided with an extremely hot string of days in late summer. So being a fitness newbie and softie, I have contained most of my running to an air-conditioned indoor track at the local YMCA.
Although I am decades removed from being described as a well conditioned athlete, I still imagine in my heart that I am much younger and stronger than is actually the case. On one of my daily runs, I noticed what appeared to me as an older lady walking on the track. My initial thought was “I hope this older lady doesn’t get in my way as I literally run circles around her.”
After I had finished running my first lap and passing her in what I only imagined was a pace that she couldn’t imagine for herself, I noticed with my periphery vision that she was no longer walking, but now jogging. In my puffed up heart, I thought to myself “I wonder how many times I lap her before my daily run is completed.”
You can only imagine my amazement, when I noticed that she was beginning to catch up with me on the oval track. Although I thought she would soon return to walking, she continued to jog and eventually passed me like I was “standing still.” I reasoned in my heart that she must be simply sprinting a few laps, but I was going to run at least a mile and half for my workout. As you might suspect, she kept running and I noticed that she was the one who was lapping me and not the other way around.
As I completed my target distance for the day and was now walking on the 1/16 of a mile track, she struck up a conversation with me while she continued to jog. She asked, “How many laps did you run? When I answered with pride, “I had just finished 24 laps.” She responded in a very kind way, that was a really good workout. When I asked her how many laps she ran, she told me that she simply ran for 30 minutes.
I was humbled not only by her “lapping me,” but by her very positive, encouraging attitude. And yet in my mind, she was still obviously an older lady than me, and that is when she left me with one last thought. She said, “It is important for people our age to keep exercising.”
My recent running experience reminded me once again to not be so full of myself. To consider others better than myself and to humbly encourage and serve others. It also reminded me that sometimes I don’t view myself as others view me. This is yet another reminder to keep a sober estimation of myself and my strengths.
No comments:
Post a Comment