In the 70's, On Days Like This: We Were Running!

15 degrees with a wind chill near zero
this morning on Long Island at 6:30.
Yes that is ice on the tree outside my window!





Above is a picture of the 1972-73 Mepham High School Winter Track Team (Click on the picture and it will enlarge). A few dedicated (and often called crazy) souls (I was one of them) braved the elements every cold morning and ran 2 to 3 miles before school. Our number wasn't great on those frigid days but our spirits were high. We ran bundled up with gloves, knit caps and long johns under our sweatsuits.
Those mornings were great times of experiencing the lonliness of the long distance runner. We ran to the school, put our backpacks in our lockers and took off. Our coach would occasionally show up in the locker room and take note of who had run.

One of the things I discovered on those early frigid mornings when we would return in from a run with our chin frozen and at the same time sweat running down our backs (yes I sweat year round!) was that the ones who really wanted to excel were out there. Our coach, Paul Limmer, (who now supplies me with Day Lilies!) used to say, "Pile up those miles."

In our spiritual life this is also true.

In I Corinthians 9, Paul, the apostle writes:

24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.

25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

It is worth repeating each day! Run in such a way as to get the prize.