The Start

It seems like a life time ago at this point, but it was just a little less than nine months. I was going into what would be by last few months serving as interim in a church in Oklahoma, my son was going into his junior year of high school, and I had little idea what was next. Add on top of this, I was out of shape, not eating right and in a downward spiral with my depression. Things were not looking good. I put on the brave face and fake smile for the people in public. I mean the church. Let's face it, no one wants to around a sad pastor. Us ministers hid a lot of pain (sorry to my colleagues who didn't want to be outed). But, I took two weeks off from the church and saw a message from the church my wife attends, Run for God. The sponsored a program at the church that would train you to run a 5K (3.1 miles) in 12 weeks. The promo said you just start with 60 seconds of running!!!

This seemed like an answer. My son was not looking forward to the fall term. He had left football over injuries and was worried that he would put on a weight from the lack of exercise. So, I turned to him and invited him to join me in the challenge. We agreed to enter the challenge. On September 14, 2015 I went to my first ever (read life time) run group.

First Run For God Group

I did not fare well that first night. I did keep moving and never stopped. What they never tell you in the promo is you run for 60 seconds, walk for 60 seconds and repeat for 8 times. I may not have ran all eight times, but I finished the work out. During hte course of the next week, I did it two more times.

I came back for a second week and kept coming back. I missed a few meeting later in the season as I got busy in my position in  Oklahoma, but I still ran. I went twelve weeks of running and got ready for my first event. I was going to run in ,"Run through the Lights" sponsored by Carthage Nazarene Church. My son and I both ran the event. Well, he ran the whole thing and I ran just a little over half. When I say run, I mean run walk. I was not even close to being ready for a 5K. But I did accomplish a lot that day. I ran farther than I have in over 20 years. I was not forced to run as I was in high school. I enjoyed the experience. I wanted to keep running.