Running has never been my favorite sport. In fact, after playing baseball and basketball in high school, I have always joked that running means that I’m being punished! But I had to do something. Heart problems run in my family, and I haven’t been exercising since moving back to Oklahoma City. On top of that, clergy are notorious for being in terrible health, and I just don’t want to go down that road.
So, on January 30th, I began the “Couch to 5K” program. It wasn’t easy, and I had to take a little time off right after Blake was born in late March, but I did it! This morning I ran my first 5K at the Andy Payne Memorial Races.
It was a pretty exciting morning. The only hitch came about a quarter of a mile in when my left shoe came untied and the racing chip used to check our times began to bounce along the road. I stopped for a split second, jumped off to the side, and tucked it in my shoe before sprinting to catch back up to where I was before. Even with that goofy little mishap, I finished at 34:03, my very best time yet! It feels good to reach this goal!
mattjudkins.com 
Congrats! Hope this is the beginning of your 5K career.
I loved your statement about clergy being notorious for poor health. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why that is. Why do we have such a compartmentalized theology? It seems like we preach about spiritual health, but isn’t that a holistic health? Maybe this is my ORU coming out of me as well: Spirit, Mind, Body.
Anyways, Congrats. See you at AC.