Learning in Training #4

Four weeks of training for the Haiti Half are now under my belt. {So to speak. Please rest assured I do not actually WEAR a belt while training - or at any other time in life.}

It was during this fourth week of training that I learned the news that the half marathon won't actually happen this year. The event organizers said the registrations were too low to make the half happen. There will still be a 5K race on the appointed day, and Ryan and I are still going to run - and we'll be done SO much sooner than we would have been! {And my body will be so grateful.}

I was sad when I first read the news, because I had been so committed to pushing toward this goal. But even in the sadness, I turned to Ryan and said, "I'm still going to train for the half."

He raised an eyebrow and said "Even on the day you have to run ten miles to train?"

I hesitated and said, "I think so." {Keepin' it real.}

The week was a strange one for me in the land of training. The first day was crazy sticky humid, and I struggled to keep my mind in the game. I was exhausted, mentally speaking, and the run seemed to stretch longer than the appointed mileage. The second day, I had run into a situation that left me so angry, I couldn't even eat all day. Running angry and running on empty {literally} seemed to work against me while working in my favor. The third day was the day I actually learned about the cancellation of the the half, and I wondered if knowing I didn't have to improve would affect me negatively. And when that fourth day rolled around, the sun blazed so hot during our run that we both felt physically ill from the second mile forward. My knee hurt, my stomach rolled, and my head was everywhere by in the game.

So in all of that, it wasn't a training week to be proud of. My moments weren't textbook and my mind didn't stay focused on prayer nearly like it should have. {Other than the prayers of Jesus, please don't let me die out here.} But even in that, one set of verses came back to me over and over:

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.

Isaiah 40:29-31a 

In the moments when I did rally the strength to pray for the people of Haiti, I prayed for their strength. I prayed for the moments in which they tried to find the medical help they needed, tried to physically make their way toward it, and got tired. The moments when they were weak, stumbling, and falling. The moments the sun sapped their strength and they poured sweat and had no idea how they would make it the rest of the way.

I know God sees them in those moments and offers them strength as He offered it to me in a week of weariness.

Pressing forward with the training and looking forward to a lighter run on race day!

{Previous Posts on this Topic}

The Haiti Half

Learning in Training #1

Learning in Training #2

Learning in Training #3