It was about 22 degrees at 7:30am...snow was in the forecast to add to the already 25 inches on the ground, but the roads were clear...mostly. On this particular Saturday we had a 18 mile training run to finish before the snow became heavy. I on this morning was nursing a little runners knee, trying to be careful, but not very motivated to run quickly. This was a important training run though, as the marathon was only 10 weeks way...and I had to run it well to qualify for Boston in 2012. As we progressed along my knee offered up a little pain, and the distance between me and my two running partners gradually increased. At about 9 miles we were about 1/3 mile apart but was on my way back and this quiet run amongst gently falling snow would soon be over. Soon...my family I would be celebrating Michele's Birthday by spending the day in NYC before Ashley left for college. As I crossed an intersection, about the middle of the street I stepped on what I thought was freshly fallen snow....only to discover in the most painful way...it was covering black ice! BANG! I went straight down in the middle of the street... which began 7 weeks in a cast to heal my ankle which was broken in 2 places. Needless to say...I'm not running the marathon in March...and apparently it may take a month now to learn how to walk again. The recovery into marathon running shape, may actually take 6 months to a year. This really stinks...but means that I need to adjust my training regimen that I have grown accustomed to.
What I've learned now is, the 7 weeks my ankle was in a cam-walker type cast was not just a healing of my broken ankle, but the atrophying of dozens of muscles in my foot and calf. What that means is...just walking is a medium sized effort accompanied with pain. And regretfully...the ankle/foot has also lost most of it's normal movement. I'm shocked that...when you don't use something...it gets weaker not stronger from the additional rest. Muscle strength degrades when not used. The lesson here physically and spiritually is...the more I use what I have, the stronger and agile I am.
Today that got me thinking, is there any correlation to any other parts of life? Well, there certainly is spiritually. The more I pray...the stronger I am spiritually. The more I read the word...the stronger I am spiritually. If I stop reading, praying, witnessing, living for Christ daily...I atrophy. Sharing Christ with those who don't know Him becomes more natural when done regularly. And of course the opposite of all those is true.
I have been in the sweet spot before. Its where your training and habits correlate with each other to bring you to a performance level that you have never been. I actually deeply desire that in all areas of my life...spiritually, physically, financially, relationally.
Time to go to rehab.
