On the treadmill

OK I will admit it. I ran on a
treadmill on Monday.

How many times have I looked with
pity at the unimaginative runners trapped on a treadmill and sequestered in a
dark gym as I walked past them on my way to run outside in the weather? Too
many. And so, now, I’m almost embarrassed to admit that on a day when the skies
were blue and the sun was shining and wind non-existent and temperature in
mid-60s, I spent the noon hour inside on a treadmill. What gives, you might
ask, and well you should.

I wasn’t inside for comfort or
safety. I ran inside for accountability and predictability. All the miles of
running by myself over the past 30 years have left me a terrible judge of pace.
By that I mean they have left me slow.

One reason I like running so much is
for the time alone on my feet. But while that’s good for contemplation and
meditation, it isn’t good for maintaining a meaningful pace. My friend, Fred,
once told me, “Run alone, run slow.” He always trains with other runners. He is
also much faster than me.

So I ran on the treadmill last
Monday so I couldn’t cheat the pace. The treadmill kept going at whatever pace
I told it no matter how I felt. It didn’t matter if my legs and head thought
they were running six minute miles; if the treadmill said they were actually
ten minute miles, well, the treadmill was correct.

Loners like me are easy to entertain
and usually easy to please, but we have to design accountability into our
lives. One reason we like to be alone is because when we’re alone we don’t have
to please anyone else or measure up to their standards. Maybe we claim we don’t
need other people to be complete human beings (which is incorrect, by the way),
and we are living up to our own standards which are higher standards than that
of the teeming crowd, but in fact being alone all the time makes it too easy to
cheat. We need accountability. And we need help seeing the bigger world.

So on the treadmill I listened to my
currently favorite podcast, Radiolab, from radio station WNYC. I like listening
to voices that are smarter than me, so I might be pulled in their direction,
and this is certainly one of those.

Radiolab is a science show that goes
into great detail about specific and often obscure topics, but it isn’t like
any other science show I’ve ever heard. It also isn’t as nerdy as that
description. I like to listen to it even when I’m not that interested in a
particular topic because their presentation is always so creative and
entertaining.

But the real reason I like to listen
to Radiolab is because it opens my eyes. It’s a reminder that life is bigger
than I thought, bolder and deeper than I thought, that there is more to life
than meets the eye. I love things that open up the world, enlarge my view, and
open up the window to a spacious view by pulling back the curtains.

So from now on when I see the other
treadmill runners at the gym I will assume they are working on their pace and
widening their view. I’ll probably give it another try next week.

“I run in the path of Your
commands, for You have set my heart free.” Psalm 119:32

To learn more about Berry’s newest book, “Running
With God:” http://www.runningwithgodonline.com/

Follow Berry on Twitter at @berrysimpson … Contact
Berry directly: berry@stonefoot.org