This photo was taken shortly after the start of the Creede 50k. If you look closely, you will notice that everyone in the photo is walking. That is because this was a fairly steep hill, even though it may not look that way in the photo.

Before I started running trails regularly, I thought it was important to run even the uphill portions of a race. That wasn’t even possible (at least for most of us) on this course. But even on a course less difficult than Creede, it is inefficient to try to run all the uphill stretches. Holding back on the difficult climbs actually leads to running a faster overall time.

I came across the following challenge recently: “What area of your life do you need to leave behind in order to follow God more closely?” At first, I thought of only “bad“ or negative things to leave behind. But I have come to realize, as with running, there are things which may seem good but are counterproductive and hold us back.