What does one think after a marathon....?

Since Blogger is down I was going to put this in a better form and then you could judge for yourself whether it was good or not. Blogger however is not cooperating with my quest to share my brain with you - so thus I get to put it in one long post here on Facebook and then hope that my identity does not get stolen by terrorists.

So I was cleaning out my brain during a three mile run today and wanted to share with you the thoughts I had in retrospect after the Salt Lake Marathon that I ran on a whim in April.

So to give you some back story on how I came to run a marathon when I did not plan on it and did not really have it in mind to do it. I am in the middle of training for the Ogden Marathon and the week of the Salt Lake Marathon I was supposed to run 20 miles. So in my mind I thought - "Dave why don't you pay the 100 dollars, have people to cheer you along the way and if you need some water it will be provided all along the path. And you get a medal at the end." The last part really is what kicked my thoughts into high gear. I can get some hardware to take home after the race and something to hang on the Christmas Tree at the end of the year. I don't really do events that don't give medals to the finishers - I think it is dumb to go out and get a t-shirt and not any hardware. But I digress.

So, on Friday - I go and register for the race - pay up my money - and Mollee registers for the 5K race that runs way before all the other things that day. Start the insanity right there. 20 miles can definitely hurt a bit less than 26.2.

But I began the race and was able to do pretty well until mile 22 when the bottom of my desire to run all the way sort of petered out and I was left to my own devices and had to walk and run the last four miles.

My epiphany came well after my wife and son scraped me back together at the finish line. It came to me while I was thinking about the race and how it was run. It came to me when I looked at the overall life journey that we are all on and how well we do while we are here. For those that are not of a religious nature you can stop reading here and skip to the end.

The real race was run by Jesus Christ - and it was not easy. Just as a marathon is laid out and the course known ahead of time by all participants, so was the life of Jesus. His first 3/4 of His life was not easy - but it was building up to where it was going to be very hard and excruciating. So is a marathon. The first 15 or 17 miles are not bad. Sometimes the pace is not exactly what you want it to be. Sometimes you wish the miles would tick faster but you get what you get and your speed is set by yourself. Jesus was much like a marathon. He was able to get the first 20 out of the way and then it was a battle for the last 6.2. He pushed and He labored for all of us. He took great burdens upon Himself for all of us. He gave everything He had for those around Him. He muscled through the difficult portions of His last hours and pushed through to grasp and claw to the end. He knew that the price and the reward were not in the moment but in the final destination. He did not stop - He did not give in - He did not succumb to pain, anguish, or temptation. When the race became hard - He did not take a shortcut or wait for the paramedics to diagnose His condition. He put His body and His flesh and blood all on the line. For the last few miles - where it hurt the most - for me it was the last 4, for Him it was the people turning on Him, the Romans casting lots on His Raiment, Barabas released, the long trek to Golgotha, the spikes driven home in his wrists and hands, and thieves to be His companions. That sort of puts all that I have and all that I do into perspective.

Is my road too tough? Is my trial too sore? Have I the strength to put all the pain and weakness away and power up the last few steps to the finish line? Is it enough for me? Is there something else I can do? What can I do better in my life to live to be like Him? Where is my drive and what am I heading for? Am I doing all that I can do to warrant Him as my Saviour and Redeemer?

In the Marathon, towards the very end, a friend came to me. An angel in running shoes. She was able to be my companion to see me through those last few miles. Am I am angel to others? Do I put on my shoes and lift those that are falling short and help them to their goal? When the road begins to steepen and the incline begins - am I the one to push along and assist those that need?

My race is not just for the short marathon - but for the rest of my life and if it is for the rest of my life then I have much to do to measure up to the Savior - who pushed it all to the limit and beyond.

Beginnings - Middles - and Me

Where to begin? I was off on a side-track of life when running beckoned me. I think it was more like a taunt. You see I don't see myself as a runner - I see myself as someone who just goes out and covers ground - and the end result is that I wear out several pairs of running shoes in the process. Before I began wearing out shoes I had never quite connected the fact that shoes have mileage limits and that at some point in time you have to throw them out. Ask my wife about the box of shoes I have in the garage that are from my sixth grade year. Great for roofing or taking the trash out - but not near as usable when it comes to going 10 miles.

So the reason that I took some time off was because directly after the Top of Utah Marathon - of which I was able to finish in 5 hours - Mollee and I took an interesting exit off of the main thoroughfare of normal life and welcomed David Henry Lamb into our lives. He was supposed to come along in November - but in a hurried state his advent was moved up from November to September and voila we have a cute little boy - now 24 pounds of smiles and happy thoughts.

His advent slowed my running to a blip of two runs in four months. But he was worth every minute and he is currently passed out after gorging himself on fruits, vegetables, and milk. Mollee does a great job of helping him to realize how much food can fit in hollow legs.

In January I was itching to run. Some people don't itch in January to run at all. But, I did. So I was thinking that I should plan to run another marathon. Now you would at this time lay me down on a long leather couch and ask "Dave - when did your body and brain separate and become so estranged?"

I thought that I should do the Ogden Marathon - but that race was closed - so I began to go short distances with the goal to be ready for the Spudman in July. BUT the gods of running smiled on this poor demented fool of a man and thus I am now entered into the Ogden, and the St. George Marathons. Sometimes the leather couch would do someone good.

I was asked at church once "Why do you run?" I cannot definitively give you an answer to that question. Is it the challenge - is it the grind - is it the drive and the accomplishment? I cannot give you one answer to it. It seems to be something within the psyche that yearns ever so slightly to push the fibers that wrap the muscles and see how fast and how far they can go - and not die.

So, Come along with me - as we ride the school bus of running - and make sure to bring your crayons and something to read because along this path all it is is the man, the shoes, and the drive to fly.