A Limping Leader
For the past few years, running has been my retreat. Running by myself in the early mornings or at the gym while others were taking a lunchtime siesta has kept me sane in busy seasons. This year, however, I started the Poipet Run Club. I learned to run with others and to train others. I also learned that God accepts a limping leader.
Run Club seemed like a good idea. Since I moved to Poipet, several youth have asked me to be their running coach. I figured if a handful of people were interested it would be good to get the word out, form a group and train together. (Note: no sports degrees, diplomas or coaching experience necessary!) Run Club also seemed like a crazy idea. Essentially I was asking people to get up before dawn, meet at my house at the break of day then follow me up and down National Highway 5. We chose this route partly because it's convenient but mostly because it's one of the only sealed roads in the city. During the months of dreaming and planning for Run Club there was a constant internal debate about whether this was a brilliant idea or... not. However, it did fit with our goals of connecting with local youth through sports. I feel free to give it a try. In July 2010 I ran a marathon PB and was positive about setting a start date for the end of August.
Two weeks before the beginning of Run Club, I was injured. I stopped running and started to swallow the maximum recommended doses of Nurofen each day. I rested, begged God to heal me and asked other people to pray for me too. Despite my fervent requests, I remained injured. At this point Run Club seemed even more ridiculous. But that's how I learned that people don't mind a limping leader.
When we started I would often let the guys go ahead for the first five or ten minutes while I ran slowly to warm up. As the pain receded, I'd increase my pace, catch the guys and continue the session. This didn't always mean I could finish fast. I remember the smile on one guy's face when he did, 'Big sister, thanks for letting me beat you!' I grinned back and replied, 'I didn't.'
Through Run Club I learned that for some people the specific activity doesn't matter at all; it's being together that counts. We would run, then stand in a circle and stretch. For some people, stretching was the highlight of the training session because we were all together! I also learned to keep things simple. We did our two trial runs on the highway with chalk to mark the starting line. I measured the course on my motorbike the day before and someone stood at the pink chalk finish line with a stopwatch and a scrap of paper to record times. We did have to break for over a week in October when the road was underwater. (Swim club?! Err..we could have had a short season!) But when the road was dry we ran. Some ran in rubber flip flops or slip-on plastic shoes. Others were in second hand joggers bought for thirty cents. But with what we had, we ran.
As I began to heal, I'd sometimes run and just see who could keep up. One of our interns did a great job running with some of the beginners. After she left, I chose one run a week to go out with the stronger runs, having a short conversation with each one of them. Coming back, I'd jog or walk with the slower members. In this way I could chat with most of them at least once a week during Run Club. Mostly, we talked about running. Sometimes we spoke about family, school, work & money. I discovered that not every conversation needs to be deep or serious. I think the youth found it helpful just to have a few moments with an adult who was interested in them and available to talk more afterwards.
Another lesson was that I didn't have to prescribe what the members were supposed to get out of Run Club. I didn't preach so much or teach or tell stories. I repeated stories. When someone said that running was helping them to endure hardship, I shared their story. I told everyone when one member said that they used to run when they were lonely but it was even better to be able to run with new friends. I repeated stories of new confidence. One runner said that if he looked at me he was tired but if he looked at the finish line, he had energy. Therefore, we used this comparison to learn about 'fixing our eyes on Jesus'. God uses limping leaders.
We trained for ten weeks and then we raced. Looking back, there were about nine out of ten weeks in which I had some kind of pain. Just before the race, however, I realised I'd stopped favouring the right leg, shortening my stride and running on my toes to protect my quads. I discovered I could run for over an hour or do speedwork without my leg hurting the next day. On November 14, our group of twenty five joined with a total of over 800 people to race.
Ten days later and there's a group already in training for next year. They don't want to stop. This morning I asked one of our regulars: why do you run? She said, 'I run for those moments when it feels like I'm flying.' That when it really hit home: God can use limping leaders to teach people to fly.
Run Club seemed like a good idea. Since I moved to Poipet, several youth have asked me to be their running coach. I figured if a handful of people were interested it would be good to get the word out, form a group and train together. (Note: no sports degrees, diplomas or coaching experience necessary!) Run Club also seemed like a crazy idea. Essentially I was asking people to get up before dawn, meet at my house at the break of day then follow me up and down National Highway 5. We chose this route partly because it's convenient but mostly because it's one of the only sealed roads in the city. During the months of dreaming and planning for Run Club there was a constant internal debate about whether this was a brilliant idea or... not. However, it did fit with our goals of connecting with local youth through sports. I feel free to give it a try. In July 2010 I ran a marathon PB and was positive about setting a start date for the end of August.
Two weeks before the beginning of Run Club, I was injured. I stopped running and started to swallow the maximum recommended doses of Nurofen each day. I rested, begged God to heal me and asked other people to pray for me too. Despite my fervent requests, I remained injured. At this point Run Club seemed even more ridiculous. But that's how I learned that people don't mind a limping leader.
When we started I would often let the guys go ahead for the first five or ten minutes while I ran slowly to warm up. As the pain receded, I'd increase my pace, catch the guys and continue the session. This didn't always mean I could finish fast. I remember the smile on one guy's face when he did, 'Big sister, thanks for letting me beat you!' I grinned back and replied, 'I didn't.'
Through Run Club I learned that for some people the specific activity doesn't matter at all; it's being together that counts. We would run, then stand in a circle and stretch. For some people, stretching was the highlight of the training session because we were all together! I also learned to keep things simple. We did our two trial runs on the highway with chalk to mark the starting line. I measured the course on my motorbike the day before and someone stood at the pink chalk finish line with a stopwatch and a scrap of paper to record times. We did have to break for over a week in October when the road was underwater. (Swim club?! Err..we could have had a short season!) But when the road was dry we ran. Some ran in rubber flip flops or slip-on plastic shoes. Others were in second hand joggers bought for thirty cents. But with what we had, we ran.
As I began to heal, I'd sometimes run and just see who could keep up. One of our interns did a great job running with some of the beginners. After she left, I chose one run a week to go out with the stronger runs, having a short conversation with each one of them. Coming back, I'd jog or walk with the slower members. In this way I could chat with most of them at least once a week during Run Club. Mostly, we talked about running. Sometimes we spoke about family, school, work & money. I discovered that not every conversation needs to be deep or serious. I think the youth found it helpful just to have a few moments with an adult who was interested in them and available to talk more afterwards.
Another lesson was that I didn't have to prescribe what the members were supposed to get out of Run Club. I didn't preach so much or teach or tell stories. I repeated stories. When someone said that running was helping them to endure hardship, I shared their story. I told everyone when one member said that they used to run when they were lonely but it was even better to be able to run with new friends. I repeated stories of new confidence. One runner said that if he looked at me he was tired but if he looked at the finish line, he had energy. Therefore, we used this comparison to learn about 'fixing our eyes on Jesus'. God uses limping leaders.
We trained for ten weeks and then we raced. Looking back, there were about nine out of ten weeks in which I had some kind of pain. Just before the race, however, I realised I'd stopped favouring the right leg, shortening my stride and running on my toes to protect my quads. I discovered I could run for over an hour or do speedwork without my leg hurting the next day. On November 14, our group of twenty five joined with a total of over 800 people to race.
Ten days later and there's a group already in training for next year. They don't want to stop. This morning I asked one of our regulars: why do you run? She said, 'I run for those moments when it feels like I'm flying.' That when it really hit home: God can use limping leaders to teach people to fly.
posted by pip @ 10:45 pm
1 Comments:
At 9:31 pm ,
Mike Clark said...
Your post is very inspiring, and it is suitable for leaders who want to be a good example to their colleagues. It shows that leaders shouldn't give up, despite the challenges, for a team to become successful.
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