Packing Your Fears

I had a lesson in attentiveness today. I was sitting in my car putting on my waterproof running shoes with the spikes built in. The temperature gauge said 9F, and I realized that I had been taking quite a long time preparing to start my 50 minute recovery week long run. This did not warrant the energy I was putting into it, from questioning my layering to fiddling with my laces. 

I took a moment to ask myself what was happening, and I realized that I was doing a lot of self-protection. I further realized that this run was pretty important to me and that I wanted it to go as well as it could despite the weather. I wanted to enjoy the run in the light powder that layered the trail, but in my self-protection, I made the wrong choices. Wrong socks, wrong shirt, wrong jacket. Not catastrophically wrong, but enough so that I could feel the sweat build up not long into my run. 

I’m not the first person to warn against the problems of packing more, when a little will do, but I think it is true that we pack our fears on our adventures.

I’m not the first person to warn against the problems of packing more when a little will do, but I think it’s true that we pack our fears on our adventures. It’s much more obvious for the PCT thru-hiker who is carrying 70lbs on his back or any other multi-day adventure. We can get away with more on our shorter outings, but I want to invite you to take them (or at least some of them) as practice, practice for your bigger hopes and dreams. What would that look like?

What do your routines (or deviation from them) tell you about yourself or where you’re at that day?

Try to be mindful of your process around your daily run. What do those routines (or deviation from them) tell you about yourself or where you’re at that day? And how can you respond to yourself in light of that knowledge? How might God respond to you in that place? When someone you love tells you to “Take care of yourself,” this is what they’re talking about.

We want to hear from you! Leave us a comment below.

What have you noticed lately around your running routine, and how have you responded to yourself in light of that?