Treadmill vs. Pavement

My senior year of high school, I joined a gym. I worked out every day after school, and part of my workout routine included jogging on the treadmill.

As time progressed, so did my endurance, and I was able to jog a little faster for a little longer.  (Yes, that's how it works.)  I was feeling pretty good about my progress, and I remember one day in particular the weather was really beautiful, so I decided to change things up a little and jog in my neighborhood. I decided how far to jog, and set off.  No treadmill, just pavement.  It wouldn't be that hard, I figured, since I'd run much further at the gym.

I figured wrong.  I made it a whopping one-fourth of the distance that I'd initially planned to run, then stopped.  I was hurting. I was tired. I was out of breath. I was not running anymore.  So I walked the rest of the way back home, trying to figure out why on earth this run was any different than all the others. It didn't take too long to peg the problem-- the difference was the pavement.

I may not be a workout expert, but I know from that experience that running on a treadmill is substantially different from running on pavement.

Why?

Here's my super-scientific, heavily-researched analysis:

On a treadmill, you're only doing about half the work.  Yes, you're lifting your legs and swinging them forward.  But you don't have to push against the ground to propel yourself forward.  The ground moves itself.  You just lift and swing your legs. That's it.
Then there's the factor of incline. When you're running on a treadmill, the incline will always be consistent. There are no potholes, no ditches, and no obstacles.  If there's a "hill," it's because you programmed it into the settings.

To be clear, I am not saying that jogging on treadmills is a bad thing to do. Not at all! I do not regret one single workout in that gym.  Those jogs pushed me to be healthier, and I benefitted tremendously from them.  Yes, I am thankful for my time on the treadmill.

Now, here's what this blog is really about:

Life at the Honor Academy is like jogging on a treadmill.  Jump on, lift and swing your legs, and you're bound to get healthier. You're propelled forward by the resources, people, prayer, and the program at large.  Yes, you have to work some. Yes, you make real progress.  But you've got a lot of help.

And then, all of the sudden, you graduate. You're no longer an intern. You find yourself standing outside the "gym," and your membership is expired.  You want to continue getting healthier, but at this point, you're on your own.  It's just you and the pavement, and frankly, the pavement couldn't care less whether or not you move forward.

That's what happened to me, and I'd be willing to bet that other alumni have experienced the same thing.    It's harder to run out here, and so it makes sense to see a lot of them just quit.  It's easy to want to quit sometimes. I have no accountability card, no chapel, no CA, no core, and no rules.  I'm on my own.

And this treadmill vs. pavement thing is not a fault of the Honor Academy. That is not what I'm implying.  Like I said before, I am grateful for the treadmill.  It pushed me exactly when I needed to be pushed.  In fact, if it weren't for all those afternoons on the treadmill, I would never have been even close to being prepared to face the pavement.

I guess my point is this:

If you're an alumnus like me:
Keep running on the pavement.  It's harder, but it truly will pay off. A mile on pavement is worth a lot more than a mile on a treadmill.  Just ask your sore muscles.

If you're still at the Honor Academy:
You won't be on the treadmill forever.  Some day, your gym membership will expire, and you'll be on the pavement too.  With that fact in mind, push yourself harder than the settings on the treadmill are pushing you.  You need to have momentum of your own built up, so that you'll be ready to run on your own.

If you're not affiliated with the Honor Academy:
This lesson can easily be applied to things like summer camp, mission trips, or youth retreats, where you're spiritually propelled by others. Learn to push yourself at home, too.