Lately, I’ve been craving a cardiac breakthrough.
Do you ever get that feeling in your heart where it wants to beat fast? A resting heart rate just isn’t enough, and you’re desperately seeking that feeling of intense heartbeat in your chest. That’s what I mean by a cardiac breakthrough.
I go for walks multiple times a week and recently started playing pickleball, but these activities aren’t quite quenching the cardiac feeling that I am desperately seeking.
Then I knew it was finally time to run.
It was a Friday night—9:30PM. I put my ten month old to sleep (I actually ended up falling asleep with him). While my husband was downstairs diligently preparing for his sermon, I grabbed my arm strap and earphones and headed out the door. I immediately began running. It was about 80 degrees, perfectly cool for an Atlanta summer night—dark and still.
I ran a slow thirteen-minute mile, and it felt good. Sweat dripping, heart pumping, music playing through my ears. All of it felt good. But these weren’t the only reasons running felt good that night. I was pursuing a breakthrough, both a physical and a spiritual one.
All parts of my body were committed to the run. My physical body—my legs, core, and lungs—along with my mind and my heart, were all dedicated to every aspect of running. As much as it was physical, it was spiritual too. I layered the run with worship music, declaring who I am as I extended leg after leg, breathing rhythmically, heart pounding, dripping sweat, while my mind and my heart sang of His love for me.
I’m loved.
I’m chosen.
Your arms are wide open.
I could never mess it up.
I could never mess it up.
— The Perfect Love of Jesus by LO Worship & Aodhán King
It reminded me of this verse:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” —Mark 12:30 (NIV)
For me, running is one activity that allows me to feel alive. My body, mind, heart, and spirit are all undivided and present, pointed toward a single purpose. Maybe that is why I always feel a pull to come back to it. I can never forget the breakthroughs I have experienced on my runs—spiritual insights, deepened identity, feelings of liberation. And that’s also why I crave that “cardiac” breakthrough—not only is it physical, but it’s just as much spiritual.
People may call this a runner’s high, and I sometimes do experience a runner’s high, but I believe this is more than just a runner’s high. It’s when two realities collide, and you feel both free and alive. This is the kind of breakthrough that I crave.
For my fellow runners, is this part of why you run?
For everyone else, what other activities make you feel alive?
THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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