My Church

My favorite pastor, Carl H. Krueger Jr., once told us that church doesn't always mean sitting in the pew. We all worship in our own way.



Today, like many Sundays during a training cycle, running was my church. My sanctuary of choice was the Oak Leaf Trail. It was a perfect autumn day. I was blessed with cool weather, fall colors, beautiful views. I even got to see a skunk, a hawk, and a coyote. I ran an amazing 8 miles.

As Mayor Glowacki used to say,
God and Cudahy don't make junk!

I know it seems like a funny thing to say that running is my church. Seems like maybe a good excuse to get out of physically going to church. But we know that it's more than just a physical experience. I spend a lot of time on my long runs talking to God. Thanking Him for being alive. For putting air in my lungs. For giving me two good legs to run with. It can help me talk my way through the toughest parts of my run, when I want to just give up. I think about all the people who love and support me through these crazy runs, and thank God for them. I thank Him for showing me all the "natures" (like today's fall colors, and the animals that crossed my path). I thank Him for showing me that I am capable of way more than I can imagine. There used to be a time when I said there was no way in hell I'd run a marathon--or anything more than a 5K, for that matter! I thank Him for giving me the grit, stamina, and endurance to do all of those things.

So running is my church. It's spiritual. Mental. Emotional. Sometimes it happens on Sundays. Sometimes it happens on other days of the week. But I couldn't think of a better way to appreciate all the gifts God has given me.

And it turned out to be a nice tempo run on top of it!