26 Miles in 26 Hours

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Sports, and physical activity in general, have taught me so many things throughout my life. A few days ago one of my athletes posted on her story that she was challenging herself to run 26 miles in 26 hours. When I first saw it, my first thought was “wow, good for her.” then I thought, “I wonder if I could do that?” This wasn’t a challenge that she tagged people to join her in via instagram (which made me respect it more) so I messaged her, “Wow! I’m so inspired, but maybe not quite enough to do it myself.” 

Not long after, she responded, “You should try it coach!”

Should I? I've never run that much in my life! My last (and only) half marathon was 10 years ago. Will this hurt my hip issue I've been having for the last year?I haven’t run more than 2 consecutive miles in at least a year, besides, I am not a runner, running isn’t even my thing! But I bet I could do it- our bodies are way more capable than we require it to be. If my mind commits to it, our mind gives it credit for. I mean, people do marathons in like 4 hours, I could do it with the recovery time between.  My mom did her first marathon at 50, not in 4 hours, but still, she was 50 and up for her 4 marathons, I’m still in my 30’s.

I mentioned the idea to Jeff after the kids were in bed, and right away, he was my biggest fan. “I’ll totally support you! I’ll make you all your meals and give you massages or whatever you need in between!” We worked out a hypothetical schedule of how I would separate the miles IF I were to do it and then he said, “You should do it tomorrow!”

While I was originally opposed to the “start tomorrow idea,” when I woke up at 5:30 the next morning, fully rested from eight hours of sleep, and without any kids awake asking for things, I decided to go for it. If I kept waiting I knew what would happen… I would keep finding excuses until it was out of my head and I would not try. After all, there is no time like the present!

So with all my time to think during this run, here are some I learned or was reminded of:

  1. Taking on big challenges and breaking BIG things into smaller attainable pieces is life giving to me. I came to this realization at THE END because, of course, the satisfaction of accomplishing a goal makes you see the benefit to the process. 

  2. Mental fitness is transferable anywhere it is applied and is strengthened by trying to do things beyond your comfort zone. 

  3. Willingly accept help, advice, and accountability, It’s good for you. 

  4. This probably would have hurt much less if I prepared.  

  5. Pain is real- it is not “all in your head.” It is when we embrace the pain-as opposed to ignoring it- and see the discomfort as signs of growth that we increase our ability to endure pain.  

  6. Our mind and body can endure a lot on our own strength, imagine the exponential increase when both of those are surrendered to the authority of God.  

  7. It is ultimately embracing the unexpected challenges that makes us stronger in the end. 

I know you are all smart people- I do not have to spell out the connections between these running lessons and our daily life, but just for fun, go back over that list with eyes for your current situation. We are never promised an easy path or a painless process in life. God promises us “He will never leave us or forsake us” but that comes with a precursor: Hebrews 1:5 in fullness says, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’” We can also be encouraged with Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” because that verse is actually about learning how to have contentment in all forms of surplus and suffering. If there is anyone who knew about suffering, it was Paul, the author of Philippians. Before he met Jesus, he had a pretty plush life with a lot of status. After he met Jesus, he traveled the known world and was left for dead multiple times, imprisoned, beaten, and shipwrecked- twice! With the new and unexpected challenges of our daily lives I hope that we can apply these few “runner lessons” and these biblical truths so we can lean into our situations and be content in all places in our life- even the painful ones.