Running Uphill with Baggage and a Bag of Open Chips

Running Uphill with Baggage and a Bag of Open Chips

On any given day, in the rain, sunshine, fog, flood, or dry cold, I love to walk my walk uphill and downhill and back again.

This week I felt every single extra pound of fatty baggage weighing me down. Little tiny hills bothered me. My feet hurt. My legs hurt. My shoulders felt heavy. My walk encompasses up, down and flat, but it all felt uphill this week – like it was uphill both ways.

Is it even possible for me to get in shape for a half marathon by mid September?

Last week I would have said yes. This week, I felt like saying no.

Instead, I went out the door, and down the street. I bought new shoes for my feet. I walked and jogged, and walked again, even though I felt heaviness weighing me down.

My usual exhilaration at the end of the walk was muted. It was there, but it felt far, far away like my fitness goals.

When I came home, I faced another temptation – a bag of open chips, leftover from my mom’s birthday party. I wanted to eat them, and I wanted to eat them all. On Monday, I had a small cereal bowl full of chips for an afternoon snack. On Tuesday, I grazed my fingers over the top of the bag, and then I walked away.

I walked away.

I walk every day.

And, I will walk today.

And maybe I will run, even if it means running uphill with pounds of fatty baggage, as long as I’m running away from that bag of open chips.

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; be we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, 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." 1 Corinthians 9:24-27