Each has their own gifts

Today, I went to church, even though we are at a hockey tournament.  Why did I do this?  For the same reason that I run five or six days a week.  For the same reason, that I am trying to make sure more often now that I do all the yoga, and stretching, and strengthening each day.  It is a part of leading life.  Life requires some degree of constancy to form habits and establish patterns to lead myself toward the achievement of goals.  

Leading a life that is consistent with a religious practice is a god.

Running as an activity for life is a goal.

Completing Comrades is a goal.

Career success and being a good parent are goals.

Since I did go to church today, I listened very carefully to the readings.  In today's second reading in the Catholic church (1 Cor 12:4-11), Paul lists nine gifts of the Holy Spirit and the fact that each person is given some for a reason.  

Why is this important?

First, it makes clear that each of us has something.  I am blessed to have a lot.  Second, I like to think of it as what is given can be adjusted over and over throughout life.  The gifts that I am given at one point are not necessarily the gifts that I will have at all points.  I am asked to use different gifts at different points in time.  Third, it gives me reason to explore--what are the gifts I have and how can I use them?  Whether they are gifts of the Holy Spirit or just gifts that I see in my life.  

I love to be generous with my time.  (The homily today talked about how we who honor a generous God should be generous.)  I love to inspire.  I love to encourage.  I love to be present.  

All of those help me to follow my dream of a way to live.  A way to love.  A way to share.  A way to care.

And all of these are things that are captured in the pursuit of the dream of running Comrades.  (My dream, others sharing my dream, and everyone hoping that I succeed and helping me to succeed.)  And all of these are things that are embodied in Sharp Dressed Man and what it does to help men who need a reboot in life.  To have a chance to share their gifts in a way that is more positive than negative.  

Story of a Dream: Taking Running to the Next Level

Yesterday, a friend posted the following question on her FB page (So What? I Run):

TELL ME: If you've been contemplating on taking your running to the next level, what's stopping you? OR, If you finally made the leap, what gave you the courage?

There are a few distinct dates in my running life.

Before the spring of 1984, I just thought of running as something I would do to help with cardio for soccer or basketball.  In the spring of 1984, I joined the track team in my freshman year.  After having had glasses for three years and two soccer seasons, I turned my attention to a new sport.  My first race was a 6:45 1600m (essentially a mile) race.  I was lapped on a four lap track.  I didn't give up.  I got much better over the remainder of my high school years.  I surprised someone at church recently by the fact that I still have my junior year cross country sweatshirt, it is in pretty good condition, and I wear it. 

I lost my passion for running at the end of high school.  Other than one attempt with a friend at a 5K in college (my senior year), I didn't run much.  Same was true for five years in Ann Arbor.  Same was true for our first three years in Baltimore.  And between August 16, 1999 and January 1, 2006, I can count on  one hand the number of times I ran.  

Courage to come back started with realizing my weight was 185 lbs.  That is not too excessive for someone who stands just about 6'1", but it was not where I had ever been and it was not where I wanted to be.   

First, I got back into shape.  One night after worship band practice in early 2007, someone suggested I train up to a half marathon distance.  So the next bit of courage came as part of a challenge.  I got up to the distance in 2007 but failed to register  early enough for the half marathon portion of the Baltimore running festival that year.  I took time away from running again.

Then, in 2009, I got my act together.  Self-discipline and a positive response to the previous challenge drove me to run the half as part of a race.

In 2010, I received my last promotion at the School of Public Health where I work and found out that several people I knew had run the full marathon in 2009.  I treated myself to marathon training in 2010.  So, that was just chasing a dream.  I dream I hadn't imagined in 1984.  But a dream I have now pursued for almost six years.

The first marathon went okay but not great for me.  I responded by making a serious attempt to qualify for Boston.  Took me three more tries, but I got it.  I ran Boston and thought I was done.

But someone I had met in Boston (a friend of a friend when I met her) was a coach.  And the pressures of my body aging (I turned 44 in 2014) made me want to try one more time for a personal best.  To push myself well below 3:15 (my fastest ever was below 3:15 to qualify for Boston but not by much.)  So the dream became 3:10.  And I was blessed to achieve it at the Philadelphia marathon in 2014--thanks to a coach who got my body ready, and a series of friends either watching the race or running the race who helped me spiritually to reach my dream.

Again, I thought I might be done, but one of my training partners off-handled comments on how she consistently runs faster when we run together.  That, plus the need for a good qualifying time for an ultra marathon I was planning for 2016, led me to my latest very good run at the Freedom's Run marathon.  At that point, the inspiration was to help a friend as much as it was to help myself.  Given how much of my running had become social and spiritual and not just "as a means to do better in two other sports" where running started for me, this seemed like a natural progress.

Finally, where did the inspiration for an ultra come from?  I read about it in Runner's World several years back.  It is international.  I have colleagues where the race is being held.  And I could arrange a work trip that will end with the race.  And I will get to push myself one more time to see just what my body can take.

There will be a lot to learn.  There is for each marathon.  And at the end of the day, whether running has come as a means to an end, to lose weight, as a response to a challenge, as a test of my self-discipline, or as just part of seeking a dream, in each case, it has been about learning something about myself.  The more I run, the more I search and explore my motivations and the more I understand my body and the wonderful thing we call life.