I took a survey a few months ago to see what some of the most common frustrations of a runner are and it was surprising that these three where literally all there was besides a few personal, more specific issues.
- Lack of Motivation
- Lack of Time
- Reoccurring or Constantly Fighting Injuries
Do you have any of these?
I did have to admit that these are my most common frustrations. I wake up late in the morning because I pressed snooze too many times and have to hopefully be able to squeeze my run in later which ends up being shortened because of a lack of time. Or I really don’t have time to run in the morning and by the time evening comes I have no motivation to get out the door because all I want to do is sit and watch YouTube videos. Or injuries are causing me to not be sure if I should do my run or not because active recovery has always helped but I have a big run in two days that I don’t want to miss, so I’m not sure that I want to chance it.
I’m sure you could write down a whole list of reasons why you as a runner should be frustrated. Loose dogs, annoying runners, health problems… you fill in the blank.
So what are we supposed to do about this? Typically our response is to just let it go and deal with it. Aren’t you tired of that?
This is not to say you can keep dogs on their own property, but in my case you can pray for a hedge of protection and that dogs would not bother you. I regularly pray this during the first 5 minutes of my run and I’ve seen dogs run out to the road or just a few feet away from me and just bark at me. It’s the weirdest thing sometimes. It’s like I literally have a hedge around me that they can’t get to me.
But we CAN absolutely work on things we have control over. Like redeeming the time so you have more, finding motivation that lasts, and stopping injuries in their tracks. You can learn to be at peace with other runners that annoy you too. I actually just found a verse that I had no idea was in the Bible that I am most definitely going to work on because I’m tired of being offended by others. Psalm 119:165, “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.”
If you read one of my latest posts you know that one of the biggest reasons I love running is the problem solving part. Because of this, I have been watching other runners and experimenting on myself to find great improvement on avoiding lack of motivation, time, and nagging injuries. It has been a great discovery!!! I thank God for leading me to this and am so excited to share it with you all soon!
I will be creating a free mini-course for you guys on the main step God lead me to take which has helped the most with all three areas. Over time I will be also creating a mini-course for each of the three main frustrations which you can purchase, but if you follow the steps I give in the free one, you should be able to take most of your frustrations to a minimum. It will not teach you how to change your circumstances, but it will help you become less frustrated as a Christian Runner, which will help significantly in all areas of your life! So if this is something that interests you, stay tuned!
But for now, check out this months podcast below to catch a snip-bit of what you can do to stop this frustration from stinking up your attitude.
I love you all and pray you have a blessed week running WITH God! Happy Running!
Be Still and Run 