Passion and Trust

So today I talk about Passion and Trust, relative to Ultra Marathon training and our ultra journey of life relative or the Christian walk book I read. Ultra Christianity.

Yesterday was entitled Endurance. Did you endure my post? Got my short workout done now I can sit and write.

How would you describe passion? Is it just an enthusiasm for something, is it stronger, emotional, intense? Does it imply an action of desire? Does it imply something softer like desire. Is there and object related to the action? Like I have a passion for tennis or Running! Or passion for learning? Many ways to apply passion in our life.

Most often it relates to an intense desire, feeling and enthusiasm.

Is God the object of your desire, or is it to something else? It could be competition in a sport or gaining more knowledge in a subject.

Passion could more often than not be out of control and must be directional .

My passion was running? Did it out of control, yes. So was my passion for partying? absolutely and nearly destroyed my life. Even in highschool, my passion was running and competition, but our generation was starting to dabble in early drinking. I won't digress any further.

Below College runner Greg at Missouri Valley

Famous runner Steve Prefontaine quoted as saying "To give anything than your best is to sacrifice the gift."

That means intense training and leaving it all on the track.

Mark 12 says, "Love your God with all your heart, mind He will give us strength". Intense, passionate love. Fully committed love. Ultra love. Eph 6 strength to run the Heb 12:1 endurance.

Do you have the passion to follow coaches' plan?

Running longer than a marathon requires commitment. Toeing the line for an endurance race takes guts and passion. So does being a believer in Christ. Follow His plan and he will give you the desires of your heart. 1Cor 18:24-27, 2Tim 4:7,8

How is your trust? Do you trust your Coach to get you to the finish?

My coach got me to the finish line at Boston 20 times. It took me years to prepare for the big race in Boston. Psm 37:4 Commit everything, trust Him for everything, He will give you the desires of your heart.

I trusted that coach would give me the right plan. As a coach I spent many years developing plans to get runners to finish their first marathon.

Trusting and following a coach is vital for training. Some people were as I said un-coachable. They wanted to do their own thing. Their problem.

When I finally got my act together in life and followed God to be my coach I was accountable and listening to Him and finished strong. (not finished quite yet)

Ultra training and executing required a different mindset than 5k 10k training. Trust=adjustment.

My weekly milage wasn't much longer than marathon training. The long runs were longer the rest days were crucial, for recovery, just like running for hours and hours. Knowing to walk before you're tired, drink before you're thirsty, eat before you're hungry is paramount. (not a secret, but a must know if you want to pace properly). Ps 37:7 Rest in the Lord

Proverbs gives us good instruction/direction for wisdom. 3:6 says ....complete trust and not your own plan, and He will direct your (feet) path in the woods and you can complete the race without getting lost. v Greg 8:10

So, be a wise runner and Christian, follow the coach, know how to be patient and committed in the race of life if you want to finish strong.

So what's left? Lots... sacrifice, discipline, strength, obstacles, nutrition and rewards (The Finish Line)