Surprising even myself, I've been jogging since May. At the end of that month, I flew to Montenegro with a team from Blacksburg to explore ways to work with meanderbug.com to help bless southern Europe through purposeful, missional travel and relational connections. When I found out our team would be engaged in some demanding physical activity, I began jogging about three weeks out.

While we were there, we mountain-biked 18 miles one day, did some SUP (stand-up paddleboarding) and hiked. It was beautiful, and I'm looking forward to mobilizing more folks to go experience that region of the world through meanderbug.com. Here's a video (the arms you see are mine!) of our experience mountain-biking Dormitory (read more here):

When I returned from the trip, I felt revived and refreshed from both the experience and the activity. Two days back in Virginia, I went jogging again. Not because I was preparing to go anywhere, but.. just because. Now almost six months after I began, I'm still jogging about every other day. It's... weird for me.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoy activity. I've just always invested my exertion in team sports. I love playing the occasional game of pick-up basketball. Ultimate frisbee is also a favorite. Flag football (think my days of tackle are over). Even raquetball. I loved intramurals in college, and I'll do just about anything.

I've also jogged occasionally over the years just to knock the fat off. Usually a month or so here and there to jumpstart the loss of inches. I've never jogged this consistently.

Someone asked me if I was enjoying it recently. My answer was, "Not particularly." I enjoy the results and the way it makes me feel, but my feet pounding the sidewalk? Not so much. Someone else asked if I'd had a "runner's high." Since I avoid cannabis due to my profession, my answer was also negative. But I truly don't think I have... I don't think I run distances far enough to experience that (usually 2-4 miles).

Here's a collection of pics of things I've seen on some of my runs since May:

Inevitably, I'm listening to podcasts or music when I run. Recently I had shifted from my stale selection (Barry Manilow, Journey, country and Christian) to some of Adelyn's music on our shared iTunes account. I stumbled acrossForgot to Laugh by Bridgit Mendler and I didn't. I was laughing at it as a I jogged. It has some of the best lines ever: "If you drive away, hope you get a flat tire, get stranded.." and "I've got my own life and you're just a punchline." Ah, the catchy quality of pop songs by jilted adolescents.

At any rate, I plan to continue as long as I can stand the cold weather here in Blacksburg. At this point, it's a refreshing habit, especially with the cool weather and the fall foliage.

More posts from the Montenegro experience:

• Destination Durmitor

• Skadar Lake

• Montenegro necessity

• Reflections on Montenegro