5k Faith

So...

Faith is a tricky thing when you look at it from different angles or perspectives. The strength of my faith in God continues to grow. After our AIA meeting yesterday (Tuesday) I felt great. I knew that God wanted me to run and continue to chase my dreams in the sport of Track and Field. I left the meeting and went home knowing that I was ready to go for this weekend. Saturday is my first race and I will be running the 5k at the All Ohio Championships at Kent State. I knew I had the support of teammates, friends, my coach, and Him. With their love and faith in me I knew I could succeed.

The hardest thing for me has always been my faith in myself. I never have a problem working hard and doing what I need to. But when it comes time to race, or prove myself, or whatever you want to call it, I always stagger in my belief in myself. Today I have been going through some of that. And this afternoon on my run I think I started to figure out what my problem has been. I know that I have all this external support and I am extremely grateful for all of it. But then when it comes time to put it all to use I neglect His support. I tell myself "I'm going to do this" or "I can succeed on my own." Instead I should be saying "Thank you for the help and support, lets do this!" I forget the help and pretend like I can do it all alone when I should be grateful and accepting of what everyone does for me.

We all have times where we are stressed and complain about the burdens on our shoulders. I feel like I go through them a lot. And who do I go to for help.... well its 2 people. Usually the first person that has to listen to my problems is my wonderful girlfriend. She puts up with so much complaining. Mostly about running when I'm down (sometimes other issues though). And mostly what she tells me is, "Ricky, you're gonna be fine." My thoughts about that are usually, how does she know, or why can't she come up with something better than that!? But every time she tells me the same thing, "Ricky, it's going to be okay, it will work out... I know it."

You know it, how do you know it??? The reason that she knows is simple... FAITH. She has faith in me. She knows that I will work through the problems the world has presented me. Shes willing to help me get through them if I can't do it alone. With her helps and help from the Lord she is completely right... it will always work out.

The second person I turn to in times like these is the Lord. I definitely don't turn to him enough though. Sometimes I think of the Lord as a last resort for problems. So if I can't get it taken care of I will ask the Lord to step in. It is all wrong to do it that way. The Lord is there to support me. My faith in him should be a pillar in my life, not a scaffolding.

With all this help and support I hope to have greater faith in myself to move forward in my life. I would like to use this faith to praise God through my race this weekend. "To God be the Glory!"

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

Stay strong in your faith,
Ricky

Off to the Trials!

This is coming a day late because I was away from my computer for the weekend, but yesterday, Jan 16th I went on one of the best runs that I have ever done. To start it off I was visiting my girlfriend up in Dayton for the weekend! While we were there we got to meet up with 3 friends to get out long run for the week in! (16 miles for me). The first thing I like to tell everyone about these three friends is that they have all qualified for the Olympic Trials in the Marathon!!! So I love to run with them whenever I get the chance!

During the run I realized something though. Around mile 13 or so we were all chatting about running of course and it hit me... I don't love running with them because they are Olympic Trials Qualifiers, I feel privileged to run with them because they are great people. And that is the same reason that they motivate me! Right before I was dropping them off at their 14 mile stopping point we were talking about my college times and my hopes of qualifying in the marathon like each of them had/have. Their comments and suggestions were so uplifting to me, not because they are faster than me, but because I could tell they meant and believed what they were saying. Ending the run left me with many hopes and dreams. Hopes of being as fast as them one day, but greater dreams of becoming such a great motivator and friend as well!

Moral of the story. You don't have to be smarter, or faster, or "cooler" is the stereotypical sense of the world to motivate or help someone. You just have to mean what you say and say what you mean. I hope everyone can work on helping others reach their goals, because I will be trying to do the same!

-Ricky

Starting off on the wrong foot.

Whether it's a new class for the quarter, a new task at work, or your first hard workout to get back in shape it's always hard to feel quite right about it at first. Take this blog for instance, I have no freaking clue what to write about and most people won't even care (I'm not sure if I even care and I'm the one writing it).I hope that I can share things of interest and importance. And people can share things back!

To start, I will talk about the title: Running and Punching. First off, it is a take from one of my favorite TV shows (props if you can guess what it is from!). And second it encases a lot of my life in 2 main words. Running of course being the obvious. It is mostly all I do and or talk about. But punching has a little bit more depth to it. Punching to me signifies the constant fight. Whatever the fight may be for the minute, the day, the week, or even the next few years. In running I am constantly fighting to drop a second here or a second there. In life I am constantly fighting to be a better person, a better friend, a better brother, or a better son. I am always fighting to be stronger in my faith.

These are the things I will continue to work on and share.

Always Running and Punching.

-Ricky