Working the Plan

After this morning's run I am up to 560 miles this year. It has been surprisingly painless to this point and I am thankful to have remained largely injury-free. I credit the Hal Higdon training program with much of that success. It has been a program of measured increases in mileage that have allowed my body to get used to the new levels of exertion without breaking. To the point that I can rip off 7 1/2 miles this morning and think nothing of it.

In this case the plan is making the difference--not just in staying free of injury, but in knowing what comes next. I would be in a very different place of the plan had simply been, "train for a marathon." The plan I am using breaks the total mileage down by weeks and even gives the distance to run on a particular day. For what purpose? For the focused purpose of getting me not only to the starting line, but to the finish line in one piece. Certainly this endeavor requires a significant amount of personal effort and discipline, but without the plan, all of the effort that I could bring to the process would not be sufficient to see it through to the finish.

I continue to be amazed at how few Christ-followers, as well as their churches and church leaders, have a plan for spiritual growth and development. We put more time and effort into planning for a vacation that may last for a week than into planning spiritual development that may last for eternity. If churches and their leaders could focus on helping the people in the churches develop a personal growth plan, more good would come of that effort than a lifetime of sermons about marriage, family, and parenting. Doesn't it seem rather arrogant for someone to think that they can master (or even scratch the surface) of the greatest mysteries and highest calling of all time by sitting in a room for an hour a week and giving a little time during the week? Strikes me as self-delusional as well.

I know this for certain, I could not be looking ahead with eager anticipation to the Twin Cities Marathon if I had no plan and only trained for an hour a week or so.