Jesus, quitting and gummy bears

Well, it was at about mile 20 (or kilometre 32 for those of us in Canada) at about 10am this last Sunday, on the rainy and cold streets of Vancouver (just to add to the drama), that I started wondering why in the world I ever thought running marathons would be a good idea. And unfortunately I still had 10 kilometres remaining to ponder that question!

A few years ago an individual named Jim Fitch wrote a book called ‘The complete book of running’, and in it he said: “When we race, strange things happen to our mind. The stress of fatigue sometimes makes us forget why we wanted to race in the first place. In one of my early marathons I found myself unable to think about a single good reason for continuing. Physically and mentally exhausted, I dropped out of the race. Now I won’t enter a marathon unless I truly want to finish it. If during the race I can’t remember why I wanted to run it, I tell myself, maybe I can’t remember why now, but I know I had good reasons when I started. I finally learned how to fight back when my brain starts using tricky arguments.”

After the race I described to my wife the incredible pain of those last 10 kilometres, and the mental will power that it took me not to quit, and then almost in the same breath I told her how anxious I was for the Okanagan Marathon in October. She just shook her head at me . . . but I thought of Jim's words.

It's amazing, that when things get tough, we hear the voice in our head telling us, 'give up - it's more enjoyable in the bleachers'. But I'm realizing that what produces not only great runners, but also great character, a great marriage, great relationships, a great career, and a great life, is remembering why we run the race and then keeping going even when it hurts. That's why I love to run. And that's why I love Jesus for making me crazy enough to enjoy it.

Plus, if you don't quit, in the last couple miles they hand out gummy bears to the runners - I figure that alone makes it worth it!