Have you ever wondered how much time other athletes spend in training? I’d love it if race results included a stat for average hours per week in training for each athlete. Up until this year, I’d spend about 3-6 hours per week training for races from 4 – 26.2 miles. That’s not a tremendous amount of time if you compare it to the pros at 20-30 hrs per week but that’s what I had to give. However, I find dropping my times very motivating and after 9 yrs I was ready to see what could happen if I made some changes.

Enter the 7-12 hour a week training plan by Matt Fitzgerald and David Warden. These guys trained the Iron Cowboy who finished 50 Ironmans in 50 consecutive days in 50 states so I figured they know what they’re doing. The plan is based on the 80/20 principal where you train hard for only 20 percent of the time and the other 80 percent is easy. On your longest week, that’s over 9 hours of easy training. And when they say easy, they’re not kidding. The plan has an online calculator where you plug in your fastest times and it gives you training zones and paces. Zone 5 is your crazy fast pace while zone 1 is so slow I previously wouldn’t have used it unless recovering from a horrible illness.

My first 40 minute zone 1 run was very awkward. Instead of the usual struggle to increase my pace, every time I checked my watch, I was running too fast. At one point, I was going uphill and into the wind and was still too fast. I kept telling myself to slow down, take it easy, relax…or just bounce up and down in the air for a while! As I continued with this plan though, a strange thing happened. There were hard workouts with speed intervals but because there was so much zone 1 and 2, the plan began to feel way too easy and I didn’t notice the speed work like I did with my old plans. That sounds good but as my first target race approached, my confidence dropped. It felt like I had a corner on the long slow plodding but not the speed. Additionally, this was a 19 week program and I was only 8 weeks into the new schedule.

It was just a 4 mile race but it was a favorite one. I’d run it 8 times over the past 9 years and each year I’d managed to run it faster. However, before this year’s race I was bummed thinking it would probably be the first year I wasn’t going to beat my time from the year before. On top of that, it was going to be 40 degrees and raining. Who wants to be sick? Not me and I almost didn’t go. My sister-in-law was going so that was my encouragement to get out the door in the morning (Thank you, Julie!). At the start, we lined up together and sped off. The first mile flew by faster than any of my other first miles and I was surprised. When I hit the second mile with the same record pace, I was loving life and a rock-solid confidence in all the training picked me up and carried me the last two miles. Best race to date by 18 seconds. Turns out 40 degrees and raining is my kind of day.

It was a nice shock to get good results even though I felt sluggish and reminds me of when Jesus speaks about the spirit being willing but the flesh being weak except I was the exact reverse. I’m not sure that’s anything to brag about but bear with me. Training can make all the difference spiritually and physically. I wasn’t sure the plan would work and I wasn’t near finished with the 19 weeks. But like that good training plan, God’s plan can do a great work in your life even if you’ve just begun to learn His Word and you’re not quite sure how He’ll use your life.

20 years ago, I decided to follow Christ and wondered if God could even use someone like me. A few years later, my husband decided to follow Christ and now we’re raising children and teaching them about Christ. I’m continually learning (and relearning) and am certain He’s not done teaching me yet. Christ was and is my plan for life but sometimes, even though I’ve been front and center to the great things God has done in my life, I still manage to become discouraged and worry or get angry. Just like the training plan, there are times we need to relax, slow down and take it easy to achieve the very best. Christ even says by following Him “…you will find rest for your souls. My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 29b-30 ESV) There are no shortcuts through life but a life with Christ can surround our trials in a joy that can make those hard times feel easier. Even when the spirit is weak, following the plan will pull you through your most difficult struggles. That’s not to say zeal is over-rated. It wasn’t great to be so bummed the night before my race that I almost didn’t go. Having a sure hope is more joyful than a low hope but it still works to stay faithful to the plan. And not only that, instead of an 80/20 ratio, Christ carries us 100 percent. His sacrifice is the only reason any of us is welcome to pray with God and enjoy a sure hope for heaven.

If you have a few minutes, here’s one of my favorite youtube clips showing Don Carson’s sweet and amazingly heart-felt illustration on following God with and without an intense faith.

Happy Running!