This past weekend I ran the San Antonio Rock ‘n’ Roll Half
Marathon. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be and I finished at a decent
clip. I had spent the past couple of months training with a friend and,
although we had never run further than 8 miles, I was able to run the whole
thing without taking any breaks (except for a serious bathroom pit-stop… but
that doesn’t really count does it? Especially since I was doing the happy dance
for 15 mins). The race was different than I’d expected it to be. The crowd of
people never thinned out, I never was able to find a group of people running at
my same clip, and spent most of the time wandering through the mob of runners
while trying not to collide with any of them.
Finishing is a great feeling. You cross this imaginary line,
which tells you that you’ve allegedly run 13.1 miles (Google told me that I’d
run 13.5) and worm your way through crowds of people for random snacks, photos,
and bottles of water only to find out that you’re hurting in places you didn’t
even know existed. But none of that matters. You don’t care about the fact that
you smell like an 8th grader’s gym-locker. You don’t care about the
fact that your hamstrings feel like snapped rubber bands… the race is over and
now you can eat ice cream and relax.
My mind is constantly drifting (when you’re running for 2+
hours you’ve got a lot of time to think). Most of the time I’m trying to
process all the stuff I choose not to deal with. But on this sunny Sunday
morning, running made me think of heaven. It would be a severe understatement
to say that life has been complicated lately. Changes at my church, changes in
friendships, changes in general… Change changes things. And in the end, I’m
left looking forward to finishing the race...
Don’t get me wrong: there are some great things about this
planet. However, despite the beauty of sunsets, amazement of aurora borealis,
and the splendor of mountain ranges it just doesn’t compare to an eternity with
the savior. I have so many questions to ask him…
I guess that’s my comfort through the grueling moments
between the starting whistle and the finish line… soon it will all be over and
the celebration will definitely top a couple orange slices and protein bars.
When this race ends, the celebration never will. And that thought brings a
smile to my face that trumps all the pain and confusion and silences the chaos.
And maybe, just maybe, it will give me the strength to dance across the finish
line… call it pre-gaming.
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