Wednesday, May 22, 2013

What Do I Think About in a 24 Hour Race?

One question about running I get asked a lot is, "What do you think about when you're running 24 hours?" I usually answer this the same way each time......the first twelve hours are about hydration, food, and pace. That is the focus of my every thought for the first twelve hours. No thoughts of quitting or how many hours I have left to run. THEN I tell them...the last twelve hours are a constant argument with myself to keep running. I usually lose that argument at some point:) However, that didn't happen in this race. Why? Well, I came up with the ultimate argument that couldn't ever be defeated.

Now I'm going to get very serious for a second. If you don't already know, I spend a lot of time praying during my races and this race was no different; however, when I starting feeling tired, or my feet/legs hurt, the one thing that came to my mind was the pain Jesus must have endured before, during, and after he was nailed to the cross. I knew without a doubt, that the pain I was feeling didn't even measure to the pain Jesus must have felt. So, I kept telling myself that the pain I was feeling wasn't significant and therefore wasn't a reason to stop running. This single argument was enough to run every step of this race except on my victory lap.

Jesus was the sourse of my strength. My pain became something I was very comfortable with....only because of Him.

"Through Him all things are possible." Phil 4:13