Overcoming Inertia

When Isaac Newton wrote about the Laws of Motion, he was thinking of forces that move our physical world. One law of motion he talked about was the principle of inertia. It's the tendency of an object to stay at rest or in motion unless an external force acts upon it. The use of a seat belt in a moving vehicle is a practical application of the principle of inertia.

Inertia also has another meaning in the human world. Sad to say, I'm currently a good example of being in an inert condition. I've been inactive from running for the past two months. I sit on the couch watching TV for hours, go to bed late, and eat late night snacks. They aren't really the hardest things in the world to do; but, who'd want to do something else?

There lies the problem with inertia. It's a disposition to stay unchanged.

Overcoming inertia in people's ways is not that simple. During this time when I was attached to the couch, I came to realize there is no amount of external force to overcome human inertia. The force has to come from within.

It's called willpower. It's that inner strength to take action in the face of difficulties and resist the temptation to take the easy way out. A strong willpower is deeply anchored in our faith in God. And we strengthen our willpower by striving to live a life of prayer. Praying daily, I am mustering my willpower to move me out of the couch and hit the road again.

The Courage to Keep Going

Are you kidding me? I gained weight. I feel slow and out of shape. And worse, I feel alone.

Gaining 15 lbs is no joke; but it's a piece of cake, quite literally. I put it on easily over a period of 2 months. I ran again recently and it felt like carrying two Dell 15-inch laptops in a backpack. I could feel the extra weight pounding along with me.

I also dropped 15% in my age graded running score. Age graded score lets you compare your race times to the standard for your race age and gender. A 15% drop is like getting a grade from a B to a C+. Timewise, my 5k slowed down by 7 minutes.

It's bad enough to realize these figures about me; let alone missing my wife. I continue to contend with my grief over her passing. It's been 15 months; though it's getting better, the intensity still fluctuates. The hardest part is dealing with the aloneness.

I've always shared my running life with my wife. Even when she got too sick to run with me, I kept going because she was still around to appreciate my running highs as well as my lows. Now that she's gone, to the extent that it was true for me, I feel I have no one to share my running experience with any longer.

In a sense, I am grieving over my wife's loss and my decline in running.

But somehow I know that I can overcome my trials. Writing this post after 4 weeks of absence is a first step; and running for a few miles the past few days has been a promising start. I want to thank those of you who have emailed me or posted their support here and on Facebook. Your words of encouragement have been profoundly helpful.

Through all this events, however, my praying has continued. I still receive your prayer intentions and keep them in my heart. I prayed harder for myself, too, especially for an increase in faith and the courage to keep going.

Strength for the Journey

Remembering and honoring my wife on her birthday today...Praying for strength to sustain my ministry in spite of difficulties to get back on my feet and running.

For now, allow me to grieve and reminisce...and heal.

Remembering the Reason

Remembering the reason for Praying Runner...on Mother's Day. Her birthday is also coming up in a few days.

It's been tough lately, missing my wife terribly and longing for her.  It's been a little over a year since she passed away. Sometimes, I have good days, but it's hasn't gotten any easier. But I trust in God's time, I will understand  better.

Here's sharing with you a tribute to her on Mother's Day, and requesting my readers to remember her in your  next prayer run. Please include me as well. Thank you and God speed.

Healing A Running Injury

You've heard about different running injuries or probably even sidelined by one. Sciatica. Plantar fasciitis. Foot tendinitis. Shin splints. Iliotibial Band Syndrome or ITBS. And more. Physical injuries affecting back, feet, legs, and knees. But have you heard about an ailment affecting the mental part of your running?

Yup, there's one. It's called ISBR Syndrome or I Should Be Running-ititis. It's also known by its other name INTGBTR or I Need To Get Back To Running.

Here's a Quickguide to ISBR Syndrome:
Symptom:  Zero mileage ranging from a few weeks to a few months
How it occured:  An unusual event in your life
Likely Treatment: Mix it up, Talk it out, Find your re-start button

Okay. So I may be the first one to be diagnosed of this running injury but many runners have been afflicted at some point or currently suffering from it like me. It is potentially a running life ending injury but it doesn't have to be.

The past 15 days I'm suffering from the ISBR Syndrome. Something I can do for myself, I can't do. Something rewarding I look forward to, I don't bother. Something I like to talk about, I am speechless. All I can say to myself and to my runner friends, "I should be running."

If you find yourself in a similar mental anguish, then you also have the ISBR Syndrome. Symptoms vary from a few weeks, to a few months, sometimes even a year or two. It could also be a recurring injury. Like me, I've seen my running life go up and down like a roller coaster.

To me, the most effective treatment is finding your re-start button. You push the button and it stops the endless loop of rationalizing that you ought to be running. It restores you to your intialized state of running which could very well be a run/walk for a mile.  When you push that restart button, it clears any data of your most superb performance and  you basically tell yourself to simply get out there, enjoy, and be thankful for your health.

However, like most gadgets, our personal restart button is hard to find. It's hard to find because as runners, we are supposed to be mentally tough. We are expected to run in the most challenging conditions. But there are events that could happen to us that are larger than life. They affect not only our running but other aspects of our lives as well.

The good news is that we do have a restart button. It's there. Be kind to yourself. Have courage. Pray. Sometimes, we lose sight of what really matters the most...that God loves us for who we are; and not for what we can do.

So I've not been running for awhile, but I've kept all your intentions in my praying. Thank you, too, for your prayers for me as I continue to heal and recover from ISBR.