I'm A Freak

I won't
I can't
I'm lost
I'm a freak
Searching for things
I can't see
Mountains in front of me
No nothing will conquer
My existence
Fear will not discover
My brain

I'm a freak
This is a portion of a song from Days of the New.  Let me decipher this from a runner's perspective.  The words, "I won't, I can't, I'm lost" are generally not found in a runner's vocabulary.  Going into a race or even a training run, thinking this way defeats you before you even get started.  We are typically driven by mantras.  I have one that I have used since high school which allows me to calm down but remain engaged, "Strong and Relaxed".  Runners can't run when they are not relaxed and at some point strength will be needed to finish at one's best.  Based on the words from the song, one mantra might be "I will, I can, I'm found".  Underarmour put the words "I Will" on their marathon shirts last year.  I still think "I'm a Freak" still applies and I don't mind be labeled as such.  So let's change the words above to "I will, I can, I'm found, I'm a freak".  New runners experience this transformation. At one time in their lives, they couldn't and they wouldn't and were maybe lost.  But, after they start their journey, they realized that they could, they would and they were found.  Just like the song, Amazing Grace, written by John Newton in the late 1700's, "I once was lost but now am found, Was blind, but now I see." there is a transformation brought about by God's Grace.

In many cases our journey in running and Christian faith allow us to search for things we can't see, which appear to be mountains in front of us, but we exist and must move forward allowing nothing to conquer us physically or mentally.  Let us be freakish in a different way - a good way.

Today Day 25: 10 miles; 2014: 155 miles