Training for a marathon at age 56 after not running for thirty-odd years has turned out to be less daunting and more exciting than I imagined. Good coaching has been the key to joyful running.
Still, I managed to get a knot in my thigh muscle that sidelined me a bit, and it took massage, rest, and gentle, warmed-up stretches to work through it. I tried to run on Monday of this week, but it was too painful. Monday night I received the massage, and Tuesday and Wednesday I took it easy, just walking and nothing more.
Now, Thursday is here and I went to the track intending another day of walking while my teammates ran. Our long runs are on Saturday, and I wanted to be able to join them for that.
I walked about a mile and felt good, so I decided to try a light jog. I was fearful that the knot would return and decided the jog would help me overcome that fear. As I began to jog, I was joyful that no pain began. It was a beautiful morning and I felt like I was God’s Own Lippizaner Stallion, prancing. So after another 400 meters, I became God’s Own Trotting Lippizaner, and 400 meters later, God’s Own Running Lippizaner.
When I was a freshman in high school, back in the days of the dinosaurs, we had a nun who told us we were thoroughbreds who had tremendous potential, but that potential needed to be harnessed and directed.
I remembered that this morning as I harnessed and directed my inner Lipizzaner.
God has created a universe for my pleasure, filled with redwoods and stars and brooks and oceans and sunsets. Today I felt like I had the opportunity to offer God pleasure, to give God a show in a simple way that celebrated who I was created to be.
What a precious time that was when all else fell away, and in that whole universe there was only God and God’s Own Dancing Lippizaner.
