Tonight the excitement of my race came to me full force. Patrice, my bible study leader was so excited for me. She is a runner herself and also quite an inspiration. She truly knows what it means to qualify for Boston as she has done it several times. I stand in awe! Here I am hoping for a second qualifier.
As I was thinking about my second possible qualifying time, I thought of my mom's many lessons. "Enjoy the journey" she would often say. She had such a passion for the beauty of God's creative
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| Rock n Roll Half 2013 with Teagan |
There is a lot of running in the dark in MN. The days are short from December to April and one typically wakes, drives to work, and returns from work in the dark. My favorite part of running in the dark is being alone with my thoughts. There was a time that being in the dark was terrifying for me, but one day my mom shared that God is always there in the darkness. I would later cherish that dark morning hour as there was no-one else in the world outside at that time and I could enjoy the fullness of God without any distractions.
Today I ran again in the dark morning hours. But today I was showered with a little rain. As I was running I was thinking of today's blog and felt I should share that my mom loved to run in the rain. And she would always sing Gene Kelly's "Singing in the Rain". So, I sang while I ran!. Thanks mom!
Well, enough about me. It's time to share her lessons again. Enjoy the journey with her as shares her adventure.
Part 4: Twenty-Six Things I Learned Running a Marathon By Joyce Wyrostek
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| Race for the Cure Tyler, TX The Girls! |
Lesson number 8 – Regardless of trials involved one
must enjoy the journey. The course for Grandma’s Marathon is adjacent
to Lake Superior’s north shore.
Occasionally the sun would peak out from the clouds, there would be a
break in the trees and I could see the vast waters of the great lake and drift
off in the wonder of its beauty. I was
grateful for the opportunity to grasp this sight at a pace where I could drink
it all in. It made the task at hand much less grueling and I thanked God for
the distraction.
Occasionally on this
beautiful day there would be a light mist to cool down the runners. Normally I don’t care for being misted even
on a very hot day but today it was a welcomed relief.
Seeing a silver lining in
every cloud is another discipline worth cultivating. Romans 8:28 says, “All things work together
for good for those who love God and are called according to His plan.” To me
this is life’s silver lining. It means
that there is always something good that will happen even if we mess it up. I
had a friend one time that added to that verse with her own nugget of gold by saying,
“None of us should ever think we are big enough to mess up the plans God has
made for us.”
Lesson
number 9 – In the long run, some will not make it. Between miles eighteen and twenty the
emergency personnel were busy with fallen runners. Some had obviously pulled muscles while
others looked like they were suffering exhaustion, and there were the common
blistered feet. I felt empathy for the
runners who had come so far and had to end the race without experiencing the
joy of crossing the finish line. I got
serious with my petition and asked God to help me stay strong until the
end. I asked Him to protect my body from
harm and guard my mind to keep it from sabotaging my completion.
“I believe there is more to this challenge
than I know right now and I will be perfectly content with the outcome if I
know I have given my best, and put the rest in your hands, not my will but
yours be done”, I prayed.
I have seen friends, family
members, and acquaintances die or drop out of life’s race too soon (at least in
my estimation) without actually making that choice. Accidents, sickness, and disease invade every
culture and if we get too caught up in grief, compassion and concern (not that
these are not important) we can destroy our own chance of fully living life. Others
wiser than me have said, “The only failure in life is to quit before you’re
finished.”
Lesson number 10 – Laughter makes the heart glad, and
adds strength. Shortly before mile twenty I passed a poster
that read, “Cemetery Ahead, Look Alive!” I got so tickled I laughed out loud as
I pondered the thought. The timing for
that sign couldn’t have been more perfect. Every runner still in the race had
their own story, mental reasoning, and physical challenge. There weren’t many of us looking very lively
at the moment.
I had a smile on my face when
I thought about the creative mind that came up with that poster line and
thought to place it in the right place at the right time. From my right I heard a woman shout, “Way to
go number 3100 you’ve got it now.” She
was wearing a grey sweatshirt, here hair was grey, and she was waving a flag
like a cheerleader, a lot more enthusiastic than any of the other sideline
fans. I acknowledged her with thumbs up
and said thank you trying to match her excitement.
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| Twin Cities Marathon 1983 |
If you want the cheering
section to be rooting for you, you should at least look like you are enjoying
what you are doing. It has been said
that if you practice smiling your body responds. Other people respond to smiles too and I
think they want to run alongside of you, maybe not in a marathon, but in the
more sane avenues of life. I am fairly certain that the woman in grey was
captured by my smile, she had no way of knowing I was just using it to look
alive.
Lesson number 11 – When the way seems long, it is, so
keep the goal in view! Mile twenty
was in sight and my time was somewhere in the vicinity of four hours and forty
five minutes. At a ten minute mile an
hour pace I could finish in less than six hours. What in the world was I thinking I wasn’t
running any longer I was finishing
this long run with a walk and my pace had slowed to about a 15 minute mile.
I ran some fuzzy calculations
in my head and realized that I still had a long way to go; six miles takes more
time to walk than it does if you’re running.
I put a familiar six mile course in my head and started counting off the
distance. There was no quitting now; if
I didn’t break down physically I knew I would finish this race because my mind
was fully made up.
For the over sixty crowd the
end of the journey is longer, slower, and more challenging than the
beginning. Those first sixty years pass
so quickly many of us forget the significant moments that got us to this
juncture. For us the greatest trial is
realizing that the first part is just preparation for our greatest hour which
doesn’t actually happen until we have crossed the finish line. The ultimate goal is never dying it is living
a fulfilled life. Les Brown put it this
way, “I refuse to die an unlived life!” And
I concur.
Lesson number 12 – There are always some advantages to
going slower. Besides the opportunity to enjoy the view, it
is difficult to find something good to be thankful for when you feel tired,
beat up and ready for a well-deserved nap.
It is easy to become negative spirited, grumpy even. I needed to find something positive to think
about. It came to me at the next
watering spot.
When you are running at speed
it is very difficult to catch the cup without spilling half the contents. When
you’re walking you can enjoy the full impact of the cool liquid making its
journey into your cells. The runners that had gone before me had splashed
Gatorade all over the street and if I had been running I might have run out of
my shoes as they stuck to the sticky mess, I was thankful that I could navigate
the spills and avoid leaving my soles behind.
When it was said, we should
slow down and smell the roses it’s true.
There are some things in life that can only be enjoyed when we focus in
on the blessings that surround us. That
is not always easy because our mind is coaxing us to rush, accomplish, and
experience more. In this rapid pursuit we miss the pleasures that are right in
front of us.
When we are young we are
always in a hurry, we simply don’t want to miss anything. As the years pass, if you have whirled
through the decades and enjoyed the drive thru meal in the car speeding to the
next meeting, you know what I am talking about.
Lesson number 13 – The closer you get to the end the
smaller the crowd. It is not uncommon all along the sidelines of the marathon
course to see clustered groups gathered to support one of the runners, some of
the runners or all of those daring to engage in this great feat. It’s amazing
from Two Harbors to Duluth how many people dot the sidelines to watch the
runners. However after the fast runners have passed or their favorite has gone
on many (most) depart and either head home or move on toward the finish
line.
The upside is there are not
so many people witnessing your agonizing pursuit to the finish. But the
downside is there are fewer and fewer calling out your number and shouting the
encouraging words, “You can do it!” Thus begins the lonely road.
I heard a faintly familiar
voice yelling, “Number 3100, you’ve got
this!” I looked up and there she was the grey haired lady in the grey
sweatshirt waving her flag. I’m not sure if she knew she was rooting for the
same runner twice but I enjoyed the thought of my own personal fan club.
Sometimes we don’t see them
but there are people dotting the roadway of our lives cheering us to the end
and wishing us the success of finishing strong. The marathon is not the only challenge I
have faced in my life (though I was smart enough not to share the challenge
until I achieved victory). When sharing
the victory, some have said, “If anyone could do it we knew you could.” Cool as it is I wonder how they know me
better than I know myself.
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| Liana and her Girls. |
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