Suit Up, Shut Up And Dig Out The Old Running Shoes
A few months ago I decided that I would start running. Now, I’m using the term “running” very loosely when I talk about what I was doing in the beginning. See, I was in the worst shape imaginable when I started. I had not been completely sober very long. While all of the drugs were out of my system, I was still waking up every morning feeling terrible. I was barely sleeping at night and when I did sleep it was for only a couple of hours at a time. I had gained a lot of weight as well, because when you get off drugs your body craves sugar. Lets just say that I was eating enough ice cream and candy for five people (I was never good at doing things half way). I had stopped poisoning myself one way just to start poisoning myself another. Because of all of this, even though I had had my Spiritual Awakening and I wasn’t plagued by depression and anxiety anymore, I was still feeling too bad physically to go out and do to much.
I didn’t like this lazy new Myles very much. Even when I was still using, I worked very hard all the time. I didn’t work out very much, but I busted my butt at my job six days a week. I knew it wasn’t time yet for me to go back into the working world, though. I had made a promise to God and to my sponsor not to get a job until I had been sober for 90 days. So, I wasn’t going to be employed right away, but I couldn’t just be lazy anymore (nobody should sit on the couch 12 hours a day watching “Bones” on TV). I didn’t really know what I was going to do with myself, so I prayed about it. Running was the answer that God gave me. Trust me, I hated running, so I asked multiple times to make sure.
“Okay God, if this is what you want me to do, I’m going to need your help.” I could barely run to the end of my driveway without wanting to lie down and die, but I took this leap of faith anyway. It was time to suit up and shut up. God gave me my sobriety, who was I to doubt that He could get me through a little jogging?
I put on some shorts, dug some old running shoes out of my closet and off I went. It was 11am in June, so while my intentions were to run, I mostly walked and only for a few blocks. I was determined though, so with a lot of prayer, I kept doing it for a few days. I really hated it and I thought there was no way it was going to last. Just when I was at the point where I thought I was ready to quit, God stepped in.
I went to a bible study one night and met some people from my church who I had never met before. I was telling them about how I was trying to start running, but it wasn’t going so well. One of the guys told me about this app that I could get for my cell phone called Couch To 5K. It conditions you to run by telling you when to run and when to walk. I was pretty much willing to try anything and the name of this app perfectly described what I was trying to do. “Okay God, I guess I will try this before I give up.”
This is not the part of this story where I tell you that some big miracle happened as soon as I downloaded the app and I was immediately able to run a marathon. Nothing like that happened. Truthfully, the first time I tried this, I was cussing at the annoying voice in my headphones so much that everybody in the neighborhood must have thought I was completely insane. But I kept doing it anyway. I started going out at 5am six days a week and I figured out how to add my worship music to the app so it wasn’t just that annoying voice and then silence.
I have been running now for about three months. I have cut down to three or four mornings a week. I no longer use the app or need that annoying voice to keep me going. I am now able to just put the worship music through my headphones and run two miles without stopping to walk. I sleep through the night. I don’t crave nearly as much sugar anymore. I wake up early every morning feeling pretty good. I plan on signing up for some 5K (3 mile) runs this fall. I will keep this up because I feel like living a healthier life is what God wants me to do. I hope to be in the best shape of my life by the time I leave on the World Race next July. I have asked God to use me to spread His Kingdom to the nations, so I had better be both spiritually and physically fit when I leave to do that. All I gotta do is suit up, shut up and dig out those old running shoes and He will take care of the rest. Love Y'all!!!
