Pace Makes The Race
The last 10K I ran was the last 10K I ran because it didn’t go well. The race took place in Black Forest, Colorado years ago, and when it started, I went out with the leaders. At about the two-mile mark I noticed that I was actually keeping up with the skinny-little expert runners. I also noticed that I wasn’t actually breathing, just sprinting and kind of holding my breath. Suddenly, boom, I hit a wall, and I hit it hard. I don’t think I ever came to a complete stop—it only looked that way. For the next three miles, it felt like I was going in slow motion. Everyone was passing me--little kids, the elderly, people with walkers, ants. I would have given up, but I’m not a quitter, and there really wasn’t anyplace to stop. I was on a loop in the forest, I could turn back or go ahead, but no one was going to rescue me. I trudged along through mile 3, 4 and 5—what seemed like the longest decade of my life. A little past the five-mile marker I started to feel like myself again. I picked up the pace, ran right through the finish line, straight to my car, and drove off thinking, “Never again!”
Now, I am faster than most ants. I’m not sure about today, but back then I could outrun most people with walkers, so what was my problem?
It was a problem many of us face, not just when we’re laboring through a 10K, but in our journey through life and faith.
The Apostle Paul addressed the issue in 1 Corinthians chapter 9.
Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.—1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NLT)
My running problem was not talent or athleticism or equipment. It didn’t have much to do with the weather conditions or the course conditions. My problem was my pace. I failed to manage my tempo.
Pace makes the race! Pace is paramount!
The Apostle Paul put it this way: I run with purpose in every step. —1 Corinthians 9:26 (NLT)
…that is why I am like a boxer who does not waste his punches.—1 Corinthians 9:26 (GNT)
No sloppy living for me! —1 Corinthians 9:26 (Message)
Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. —1 Corinthians 9:26 (NIV)
Pace makes the race. That is actually a horse-racing phrase. There are innovative scientific models and methodologies whereby if you can understand the optimum pace of a horse and the projected pace of a particular race you can predict who will win and you will make lots of money, that you will eventually bet on some Philly with a clever name and lose everything.
Pace makes the race financially.
Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time.—Proverbs 13:11 (NLT)
…whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow. —Proverbs 13:11 (NIV)
Pace makes the race spiritually.
The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.—Matthew 13:20-21 (NIV)
If we want to win at money, if we want to win spiritually, if we want to win at life, we’ll need to pace ourselves.
The summer is a great time to pause and check my pace of life. Am I moving too fast? Am I holding others us because I’m not moving fast enough as a leader?
How Can We Pace Ourselves?
Check my Plan
I run with purpose in every step. —1 Corinthians 9:26 (NLT)
Q: How does a man show that he is planning for the future?
A: He buys two cases of beer.
“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless,” Gen. Dwight Eisenhower
once said, “but planning is indispensable.” The very act of planning prepares us to win, even
if the particulars of the plan change on the fly. And that’s especially true for planning our
upcoming day.
We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.—Proverbs 16:8 (NLT)
Get a plan, but be very careful, be flexible enough to go with God’s changes.
Check my Advisors
Am I not as free as anyone else? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus our Lord with my own eyes? Isn’t it because of my work that you belong to the Lord? Even if others think I am not an apostle, I certainly am to you. You yourselves are proof that I am the Lord’s apostle.—1 Corinthians 9:1-2 (NLT)
Don't worry about what people think. They don't do it very often.
Paul wasn’t overly concerned about what other people think. He didn’t get caught up with how other people race. He wasn’t trying to keep up with the Jones.
Check with my Coach
Do you have a trusted coach who can give you some insight about your pace? Check with Tim Pearring. Tim is Excel’s Coaching Lead, he can get yous et uo to be a coach or get a coach.””
If I were doing this on my own initiative, I would deserve payment. But I have no choice, for God has given me this sacred trust.—1 Corinthians 9:17 (NLT)
Check my Discipline
All athletes are disciplined in their training… I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should.—1 Corinthians 9:25 & 27 (NLT)
“Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There's plenty of movement, but you never know if it's going to be forward, backwards, or sideways.”--H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action, and discipline that enabled us to follow through. --Zig Ziglar
“I've learned over the years that freedom is just the other side of discipline.” --Jake Gyllenhaal
Check my Path
Sign on the outskirts of a small town: "Our speed limit is twenty-five with a fine of three dollars per mile for faster driving. Pick out a speed you can afford."
Paul says the rarer three possible outcomes regarding the path we are on:
They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.--1 Corinthians 9:25 (NLT)
Athletes in training are very strict with themselves, exercising self-control over desires, and for what? For a wreath that soon withers or is crushed or simply forgotten. That is not our race. We run for the crown that we will wear for eternity .--1 Corinthians 9:25 (Voice)
Otherwise, I fear that… I myself might be disqualified. —1 Corinthians 9:27 (NLT)
Outcome #1: Fade
Outcome #2: Disqualification
Outcome #3: Eternal
Pace makes the race
Here is the assignment: Check my pace this week
I actually did run another 10K, kind of. Our family signed up for a 5K and 10K run along Santa Monica Beach a few years ago. I ran the 5K, but because I paced myself, I actually had enough energy to run it again!
Pace makes the race.
