Tuesday, December 26, 2023

Running into 2024 and Celebrating 50 Years as a Runner

For the most part, this blog has sat dormant for the past few years. During that time, I underwent a career change and became a grandfather four times. My focus since 2020 has been on my family and my job. During 2022, I had made it a goal to run and/or bike every day of the year. I made it about 260 days before life changed and I left the field of law and became Director of Faith Formation at a Catholic church in Indiana. Since then, I've been focused on my ministry with young people and spending time with my family. I'm three months away from turning 59 and can't deny the white hair I see in my beard. Yes, just in the past week I've started to grow out my whiskers -- something I've not done since I shaved my beard off 33 years ago. As the white hairs appear more each day in my beard, I can't help but to admit that I am indeed getting older. I'm entering the final year of my 50's and seeing my children starting to have children of their own definitely tells me that time is moving forward. That's not a bad thing at all. In fact, I'm embracing it. It's wonderful to see how life changes as the years go by. There may be a few more wrinkles and white hairs as I look in the mirror, but it's all good. God has been very good to me.

With that said, I do believe that I need to become more active again. For the past 18 months, my running shoes have sat under my bed and my bike has been on a hook in my garage. Some know that I had kicked around an idea for another adventure run, something I've not done since age 46 in 2011 when I ran solo across the Mojave Desert. However, I discerned that God didn't want me to embark on an ultra-endurance journey at this particular time in my life. For those of you familiar with my running background, the 2006 BOB support stroller that I use on all of my solo runs across states and countries has been rebuilt and is in my garage. Yes, "BOB" (Beast of Burden) could definitely do another adventure. The fact is, I'm not sure what the future holds for another mega-mileage run. Somewhere down in my heart, I believe there is still a stirring... that there may indeed be something that God has planned for me in running. Honestly, I'm not really pondering it that much. I'm simply loving my life... my wife... my family... my ministry... and this season of wrapping up my 50s.

Running caught my eye at the age of 9. It was 1974 and I was in the 4th grade when my elementary school participated in the Presidential Physical Fitness Test. You had to be at least age 10 to take the test and try to get The Presidential Physical Fitness Award -- the highest award given for performance on the AAHPER (American Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation) Youth Fitness Test. I watched the 5th and 6th grade students take the test, which included running, and I knew that I wanted to do well on it when I was in the fifth grade. Running became my sport in the mid-1970s and it has been my primary sport for the past 50 years. The year 2024 will take me into the end of my 50s and will mark 40 years since I first began running distances beyond the marathon (26.2 miles). Back then, I was sponsored by such companies as New Balance, Gatorade, Timex, and a newly-formed eyewear company called Oakley. Today, I'm not sponsored by any companies.

I'm going to aim to keep this blog more up to date, especially as I become more active by running and cycling through 2024. For those new to this blog, I invite you to explore some of the writings I've placed here. I've shared many stories about my adventure runs, as well as writings pertinent to family and fitness. For those of you who have been here before, thanks for coming back! I do want everyone to know that running will never be the priority in my life. My family will always come first. Always. What's the point of reaching for life's mileposts alone? To me, life's mileposts should be shared with those you love. I am truly blessed to have a loving and supportive family, for which I am very grateful.

Gotta Run,

Paul J. Staso

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Visit my YouTube channel -- https://www.youtube.com/user/pacetrek

Click on any of the links below to see some of my adventure photos:
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Thursday, March 2, 2023

God Takes No Pleasure in the Runner's Stride

Since I began running in 1976 at age 11, I've logged enough running miles to circle the globe twice -- a little more than 50,000 miles. Throughout all of those miles, I’ve been a Christian. I've been sponsored by corporations, completed multiple solo running adventures across states and countries, and my strides have taken me to the White House in Washington D.C.; the top of the Appalachian and Rocky Mountain ranges; to such national parks as Denali, Grand Canyon, and Yellowstone; from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic shore; across the Great Plains; and across parts of Europe. I've had the honor of meeting people in various political offices, being hosted in homes of countless caring families, and have enjoyed the virtual running company of school children around the globe who tracked my progress via online classrooms I created for each of my running endeavors. Years of pounding the pavement made my legs very strong and I've been able to conquer every snowy mountaintop, sandy desert, desolate highway, and lonely valley I've encountered.

Yet, after decades of sculpting my body to perform at such a high degree I now realize that although God is likely pleased that I've used my athletic abilities for good purposes (promoting youth health and fitness and putting a focus on some charitable causes), God has taken no pleasure in this runner's stride. I must admit that there have been moments when I've taken pride in my self-sufficiency as I dominated over large landscapes with my runner's stride. Yet, such self-sufficiency is NOT what pleases God, but rather our ability to acknowledge dependence on Him. As it is written in Psalm 147:10-11...

In four weeks I'll be blowing out the candles on my 58th birthday cake, and I am incredibly grateful to God for the ministry He has given to me as Director of Faith Formation at a Catholic church; as a husband to my lovely wife Kelley; as a father to four amazing adult children, and step-father to three other wonderful adult children and a high school Freshman; grandfather to several grandkids; and, being the youngest of 7 siblings with my parents healthy and well in Alaska at nearly 90 years of age. I've run many different courses in life and God has truly taught me many lessons along the way... even when I've had to backtrack now and then and traverse some rough terrain to finally learn a lesson.

Let's take a closer look at Psalm 147:10-11. What delights the Lord? The verses tell us that He does not delight in the strength of the horse and He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man. The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His mercy. We take great interest in the power of God’s creation, whether it is the strength of a horse or the strength in the legs of a man. God created these things, but they are not what fundamentally delights Him. The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him -- the reverence and trust of His people. Those who find their hope in His mercy delights God, because they honor Him with their trust. It pleases God when we hope in His loyal love, His loving kindness.

Yes, when it comes to me... God is not impressed with my legs or endurance.

Please understand, taking pleasure in the beauty of the symmetry of a well-formed human leg is not the point here. Most of us are impressed with the weight-lifter whose massive legs and shoulders allow him to dead-lift 1,000 pounds or more, or an Olympic sprinter who can run the 100-meter dash in less than 10 seconds. God is happy to see us use the gifts He gives us. However, God is not impressed by the extremes of human achievement.

The Apostle Paul tells us, "Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:10). With the years I have left in this life, I definitely want to please God. Over many decades of running, it really all comes back to Psalm 147:11 where the Psalmist mentions the two qualities of character as pleasing to God: (1) fearing God; (2) putting hope in His mercy (steadfast love). "Fearing" God sounds pretty negative, but we need to understand it. "Fear" here doesn't mean "terror." Rather it means something like "be in awe of." A God-fearer is one who cares more about offending God than offending people. Some are swayed by the values of their peer group or their culture. However, the one who fears God is swayed by what he or she knows about God -- what pleases Him and what angers Him.

As I continue down life's road, I'll do so humbly and with reverence to God while keeping Romans 12:3 in mind: "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment." Essentially, the Apostle Paul is telling us not to think we're better than we really are, but to be honest in our evaluation of ourselves. That's a good lesson to learn before too many mileposts are in the rearview mirror!

From Him, Through Him, For Him (Romans 11:36),
Paul J. Staso

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Visit my YouTube channel -- https://www.youtube.com/user/pacetrek

Click on any of the links below to see some of my adventure photos:
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