Treadmills vs. Pavement

In no way am I up to the level of the women who so gracefully glide down the road on their  daily 5 mile run, but I'm trying.  Slow and steady like the tortoise.

I have been running everyday on the treadmill and at the end of a, non-stop 30 minute run, I am throwing myself a little party in my head.  (Obviously, I am new to the running game.)  I have to stop  myself at times and remember there are others in the gym with me and they probably do not care to see me fist pumping and cheering for myself.  I have a reputation to uphold and, by no means, do I want to become the crazy girl in the corner!

It is amazing though how a 30 minute, rolling hills, run on the treadmill can feel so different than actually running on pavement.  All of the sudden, the non-stop 30 minutes, turns into run 10 minutes and then walk before falling on my face.  In a perfect world, as long as you are running on any surface, it would all feel the same.  But, no, the rolling belt of the treadmill doesn't compare to the stationary ground.

It's great to train and run inside if you can't go out, but eventually you need to literally put your feet to the pavement to truly experience what a run feels like.

I began to realize that there are many areas in life that are like my treadmill, practicing for what I would like to become or do and not actually putting my feet to the pavement.  For years I have dreamed of sitting down and writing, I have thought of stories and poems, but actually putting them to paper is harder than dreaming of them.  Not just your dreams, but the same goes for marriage, raising children, and growing in your faith.  We can study the Bible, read books, take classes on how to improve in those areas, but until we put what we've learned to action, we are just jogging away on our mental treadmills. Going nowhere, staying on the steady rolling belt of our comfort zone.

Run on your treadmills while you can, it is still great training, but I challenge you to put your feet on the pavement and get out of your comfort zone.  Run, no matter how exhausting and hard it may be.  When you finally begin to take those steps, the 30 minutes of leg aching, chest hurting pain will turn into sweet rewards.  When you realize that you actually succeeded and didn't fall flat on your face, it will make it that much easier to go again.  Let's go out and get to running!!


James 1:22-25  "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.  Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.  But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it - not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it - they will be blessed in what they do." NIV