SPEAKER_03 0:00

In that season, I was introduced to this idea and language of a base pace. Okay. And that's really what I want to talk about. I'm glad you asked what that means because the actual definition is in the runner's world is the foundational easy pace that makes up the bulk of most training plans. It allows the runner to build stamina. I'm gonna say that again. Okay. It allows the runner to build stamina while avoiding burnout or overtraining. I see what you did there. Yep. So when we're running at our base pace, we can speak in full sentences pretty comfortably. It it ends up being about 80 to 85 percent of our weekly total mileage, and we're only operating at like 65 to 80% of our max heart rate. So base pace should feel comfortable, doable, and be the bulk of what you're running at. So here's the problem.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

I'm already internally like, I know two speeds. Exactly. And that's the problem.

SPEAKER_03 1:11

I'm so glad this this you've already said it for me. This is your intervention, Shereen. I'm glad you've caught up.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

I'm Shereen Crawford. And I'm Ashley Earwood. And we have a very fun episode, and Ashley's gonna take it from here, but I am curious, what are we talking about today? Well, we're gonna decide by the end if it's fun or not, Shereen.

SPEAKER_03 1:47

But okay, I'm just messing. Today we're talking about the pace of grace and the importance of pace. Okay. Because you know, here at Team Not Tired, and today might feel like Team Tired, let's be honest. I was gonna say we've had a very heavy two months. So we're we're coming into today's recording a little more tired than usual, but we talk all the time about how our mission at Team Not Tired is to find grace to run your race at a sustainable pace. And we don't say that because it's cute and it rhymes. Although it's adorable, but it's so cute. But we say that and we specifically chose intentional language because all of those pieces are so important, and that really is why we're here and why we're giving our time to have these conversations. And it I was sitting on just the reality of our mission and the intentionality of why we're having these conversations, and I was reminded about the season in my life where I was, I hate to even say I was a runner. Hmm. But there was a very short season of my life where I was a runner? Do tell. And when I say runner, I mean I ran five K's.

unknown 3:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 3:18

Um, but it was after I had had three kids and I was just trying to get back in shape. And I found, you know, I was I was really searching for friendship and community at that season of life, and I found some friends at the gym. Okay. And I remember I would I would be on the treadmill and I would kind of do that walk and run thing, you know, walk two minutes, run three minutes, walk two. And when I say run, I mean jog, you know. Yeah. You're not like 12 feet. No, never. You would never find me there. But I would kind of do that interval training. I remember my friend Stephanie came up to me one time. We were running together, and she was like, you know, she was like, if you would just do a slow jog instead of walking, and in those intervals, she was like, you would really see improvement in just increasing your bass pace. Okay. And I was like, whoa, what's a big what's a bass pace?

SPEAKER_00 4:14

I literally was just gonna ask you that because I was like, these are terms I've not heard. Really?

SPEAKER_01 4:20

I'm not a runner. Okay, but you played soccer, and I remember how terrible it was to run. Literally, Blake gave me this book to read, which is a side note, and it's like the things I think about while running. And he was like, How was it? It's a great title. It's a great, it's a great book, but I told him it was like running a marathon, hard to get through.

SPEAKER_03 4:43

Like it's just not for me. Running is not for me. But again, I was trying for a season to see if I could become a runner. And I even had these this app that I would listen to. It was one of those running training apps, you know. And so you'd pick, yes, I really did this for a while. And you'd put your, you know, that put your earbuds in and you'd you'd go out, and then you'd have this trainer, this voice in your head, and you can pick different music playlists, and they would coach you through a running workout. I did this for a long time. And so they would start and you'd be like, okay, for the next two minutes, we're gonna warm up, we're gonna walk, and then they'd go, okay, let's get to our base pace, and we're gonna run here at our base pace for like four or five minutes, and then maybe you'd do sprints that day. And so they'd go, Okay, we're gonna give it our all, and we're gonna, we're gonna sprint, and then we're gonna pull it back to our base pace, and then we're gonna cool down. And they would just coach you through this.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

That's a wonderful app. I think I would be a better runner if I had a coach in my head here instead of me in my head of like this.

SPEAKER_03 5:53

It's terrible. Because me in my head is like, what are you doing? Stop now. Because why?

SPEAKER_00 6:01

It's like the reels. Why are you running? Are you safe?

SPEAKER_03 6:07

My favorite is the couple, just the like picture perfect couple that are like holding hands as they run across the finish line. And it the caption is like, This could be us, but we like Netflix and pizza. I probably send that to Paul once a year. A classic, if you will. But I in that season, I was introduced to this idea and language of a base pace. Okay. And that's really what I want to talk about. I'm glad you asked what that means because the actual definition is in the runner's world, is the foundational easy pace that makes up the bulk of most training plans. It allows the runner to build stamina. I'm gonna say that again. Okay. It allows the runner to build stamina while avoiding burnout or overtraining.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

I see what you did there.

SPEAKER_03 7:04

Yep. So when we're running at our base pace, we can speak in full sentences pretty comfortably. It it ends up being about 80 to 85 percent of our weekly total mileage, and we're only operating at like 65 to 80 percent of our max heart rate. So base pace should feel comfortable, doable, and be the bulk of what you're running at. So here's the problem.

SPEAKER_00 7:33

I'm already internally like, I know two speeds. Exactly. And that's the problem.

SPEAKER_03 7:41

I'm so glad this you've already said it for me. This is your intervention, Shereen. I'm glad you've caught up. I'm so glad there is an audience to tell me. Because many of our listeners might be like you, friend, might be like me, and just live in sprint mode. Or you're spending too much time in sprint mode, and then you're wondering why you're tired, you're wondering why you feel far from God, you're wondering why your relationships aren't healthy, why you're unhappy, and why you can't finish what you started.

SPEAKER_01 8:16

So when I'm sprinting, I I don't think I'm thinking.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

Also, broader to the problem.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

Exactly. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 8:27

Exactly when you're when we're sprinting, we're striving. And too many of us spend too much time in sprint mode, and then we burn out, we overtrain, and we quit. Rather than building up the stamina to increase our base pace. And this is this is running, but this is life. And I'll just use an example from church that I I see a lot, and then maybe you can share a personal experience or example. I feel attacked, not looking directly at you. Um, because I'm I'm owning this too. But I, as a as a pastor and a church leader, I see this a lot with our volunteers. I see people come in and they either are newly saved or they've just really had an encounter with the Lord. They're excited to have found a community, and they just want to run in at a sprint level. They're like, let me join all the teams, let me come to all the groups, all the services. And I've just seen it enough that as out of like shepherding care, I usually will go, hey, like let's, I'm so glad you're excited to be part. I'm so glad that you really want to lean in and grow right now. But like, let's find, let's find a balance that's sustainable because most of the time those people come in, they do all the things, they join all the things, and then in like six months, they're burnout, not surprisingly, and they quit. Or they or they leave the church, or they just quit everything altogether. And it's like, man, if we had just increased our base pace a little bit, right? If we had just started slow and increased our stamina, then you would be able to do more. But we're just coming out strong out of the gate, and then we can't get across the finish line. So that's why we talk about a sustainable pace. It's not because we're trying to get people to do less or walk less in their calling. It's not about that. It's about the fact that we want you to finish well and we want you to finish strong.

SPEAKER_01 10:41

Yeah, we want to we want you to finish your race. And I I will say I see it in the church a hundred percent because our volunteer, there's always like a small percentage of people that actually volunteer. And so there's that aspect of things, but I also see it with young leaders where they're just like, I'm gonna do this, and I'm gonna do that, and then I'm gonna execute. And there's like you know, what we call green, very new leaders that are super hungry, and then they don't execute anything because they're like, I've been off more than I can chew, I've taken on more than I can carry, and so I've definitely see that with my new leaders, but then also to uh the opposite end of having leaders that are really seasoned. Sometimes I'm like, get up, let's go! You know, like we still need you, you're still in the race. And so it's just really interesting all the different dynamics of of what I see in the spheres that I'm in to see, like, oh, you know, you're not running at your base pace. And I will say for myself, because I I was a sprinter, I would say was, because I am not out there on the track, like I'm just not, but I I I ran track, I did soccer, and that's one of the things of you know, like you're sitting there, you know, getting yourself ready in position. And once that gun goes off, like that's when the race is at. And my coach Dre would always be like, Shereen, you have to kick it up towards the end, not at the beginning. And I was like, but why? Like, I'm out, I'm out here trying to win this race, man, and I want to be in that be ahead. And he's like, typically the ones that are ahead at the beginning are last, and that always stuck with me, and I was like, ew, like I'm out here trying to win races. And so I did the 100 and the 200. And when I was not good, my coach would make me run the 400, which I hated. But is that a full lap around the track? Full lap around the track. And again, I'm a sprinter, like I'm not a marathon runner, but those are the things that I I remember and I carry with me now of like, oh yeah, you're right. Like you can come out of the gate strong, but are you going to finish that race?

SPEAKER_03 13:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:24

And my hope, not only for who's at this table, myself and my friend, but then also those that are listening of like it's great to come out strong, but are you gonna finish your race? Yeah. And I think that having that language of base pace being the bulk.

SPEAKER_03 13:43

Like that, and that's the thing. And I that's a great point because on the flip side, you brought you brought the flip side to it of, you know, we're laughing at ourselves because we like to, we think we can sprint all the time. But there's a lot of people who are walking that need to up their base pace. And you're only gonna do that by increasing how fast you're going. And so there are to your point, you know, we see uh leaders, we won't make it, we won't make it about age. That's too stereotypical. But there are people and there are leaders with a lot of giftings and talents and capacity that are moving slower than they should. And so there's a balance to be had when we say find a sustainable pace. It's like, no, you can do more. You're holding yourself back and you're not increasing your capacity. And sometimes our capacity doesn't match our calling. Ooh, I didn't even write that. I was like, uh Pastor Ashley, then the Holy Spirit activate. Come on. But it's true. And like wrong with great power comes great responsibility. Yes? Yes. Thank you, Peter. So for for those that are that have been called by the Lord, and we all are called by the Lord, right? We're all called to say, follow me as I follow Christ, then we have a responsibility to increase our capacity. And it doesn't mean that your capacity looks like mine or mine like yours, but we need to find ways that we for ourselves, between us and the Lord, can increase our capacity that matches the calling that we've been given. That's really good.

SPEAKER_01 15:27

So, how do we do that?

SPEAKER_03 15:29

Asking for a friend. Yes. I think I'm I'm not gonna have just incredible points for you to take home today, but I think I just have a couple questions that we can ask ourselves when it comes to this conversation of peace. And the first is this are we being driven or are we being led? Okay. So I'm gonna read from Genesis 33 for a minute. And this is where you remember Jacob and Esau, they're brothers. Jacob did Esau dirty, went behind his back, stole his birthright, stole his blessing, went away. He's coming back with his family, and they're seeing each other for the first time after this breaking and after this betrayal. And so they come together, Jacob and Esau, they they make up, and it says their their first interaction, Esau says to Jacob, Well, let's let's be on our way. I'll accompany you. He says, Let's go together, right? Jacob's got all his family, all his children, all his flocks. He's coming back home. And Jacob tells him, basically, I'm gonna paraphrase. He says, Look, you know that the children are young, I need to care for my animals. It's he says, if they're driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. He says, So let my Lord go on ahead of his servant while I move along slowly at the pace of the droves before me and that of the children until I come to meet you. And so I think there's a great lesson in this very short passage that we need to consider. And that's being aware of the fact that our pace is really important to the people around us. And so we have to find a pace that's not just for us, but for the people that rely on us and depend on us. And we may need to adjust our pace for the specific moment and season that we're in. That's good. So that's what I would ask today, because the best pace is really grace. And I know that sounds cheesy, but it really is really. I can't help myself. But the when you consider the pace, you have to consider the grace of God on your life for that moment, for that situation, and for that season. And if we're not connected with the spirit, we're not gonna know what that base pace should be. That's why in Jeremiah, I've been studying Jeremiah this week, and the Lord says to him, He says, It's not by might, it's not by power, but it's by my spirit. And I hear that and I go, it's not about striving, it's about being led by the spirit. And so when we're led by the spirit, there's a grace on our life that doesn't ask us to strive. It asks us to find that comfortable pace that allows us to sit in his grace and not our striving. And so that comes to the question of am I being driven or am I being led? And if I'm being led, who's leading me? And so I love that. I think these are other questions that I might ask as you're considering if you're living in a state of rest like Jesus, because he had just this like super relaxed, slow pace. He was never in a hurry, right? And yet he still accomplished everything that God called him to do.

SPEAKER_01 19:05

Right. And and just as a little plug, uh go back and listen to Jesus and Naps, because that's a fantastic episode, and you talk about that in depth.

SPEAKER_03 19:17

Yeah, yeah. Jesus is the ultimate example for us all the time, but I think he really teaches us how to stride and not strive. And and I just go back to, you know, so many of the times that I catch myself striving, it's because I I fool myself into thinking I'm striving for good reasons. Yeah. Yeah. It's not I'm not striving out of, you know, poor intent. I'm striving because I'm trying to do everything I feel like God's called me to do and put in my hands. And yet Jesus accomplished every single thing he came. I'm gonna get emotional. Like he accomplished everything that God asked him to do.

SPEAKER_00 19:58

Right.

SPEAKER_03 19:59

There was not one thing he missed and yet he was never striving. And I just I want to live like that. I so badly want to live like that. And so a couple questions for us today, just to consider who's leading you. Are you delighting in God? Because if you're uh sprinting so hard that you're not having time to delight in the Lord, you're running too fast, right? Your pace is off. Like a base pace should always make sure that we are not so overwhelmed that we can't prioritize our time with the Lord. Right. So are you le are you delighting in God, who's leading you? Is there peace in your soul? And is your family keeping up? And I think that's the the thing that Genesis really spoke to me about is you might be able to keep a certain pace, but if it's too fast for the people that rely on you, it's too fast.

SPEAKER_01 21:09

It's too fast. They're not gonna be able to keep up. And you want them there at the end of wherever you're going.

SPEAKER_03 21:18

Yeah, if we're if we're running in such a way that we're leaving our families behind or we're leaving the people that we're leading behind, and we just think that they need to catch up, that's really poor stewardship of our pace. And so I I would just encourage everybody listening today, like, don't just fight for a sustainable pace for yourself. Fight to find that pace for the people around you that rely on you.

SPEAKER_01 21:47

I think that's I think that's great because if not, then you're just taking a lonely walk. And that's not good stewardship, that's not good leadership, that's not just how we want. anyone to live their life. And so I I think it's incredible to even wrestle with this concept of base pace of like that should make up the bulk. I'm just saying there. I can't even get it out. Like the bulk of your training is in that mundane every everyday life of like I'm running at a sustainable pace where I can comfortably talk and I can comfortably walk with someone or I can comfortably coach someone up to be like hey let's keep going. Let's not just come out of the gate strong but let's finish our race our our race our race on mission.

unknown 22:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:50

That that I think one final thought, you know, that bass pace, you're supposed to be able to talk at a comfortable level, right? Without being out of breath what they say, be able to speak in full sentence comfortably as you run. And I think about that in terms of our life and our the reality of our calendars and things like that. And I go, that looks like being able if a friend calls you last minute and is like hey do you want to go grab coffee? Hey do you want to go grab dinner tonight? Having the bandwidth to be able to do that and let that not tip your week or overwhelm you. Like having bandwidth one more thing. Yeah. And if we're constantly finding ourselves going well when things slow down well when things slow down like that's a huge indicator and I'll take my own medicine but that's a huge indicator that your pace is off.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

Yeah if I have to get through one more thing. Like I I feel like God can work within whatever season you are in. And so if you find yourself running at a sprint because that is the season maybe you're in like just remember that you can get back to your base pace. We're not supposed to be living on striving and sprinting and just like take take a beat get back to that level. So I think that's really awesome to hopefully our listeners know that this is not a personal attack even though I I that's why I warned you I don't know if it's fun or not I'm having so much fun. But I I think that it's something that we can wrestle with and I think that's something that we want everyone to kind of consider and ask yourself these questions and actually apply them to your life if if something is off if some if the Holy Spirit convicts you of something it there's so much beauty and grace in that. And I think you can run your race with the abundance of grace. And so I hope you can continue to listen listeners share it with a friend leave us a review if this is something that you are enjoying. I know that Ashley and I are having so much fun doing this and we just want to be you know good stewards of what we have for you guys. And so till next time welcome to Team Not Tired