Mile 13

My lungs were on fire. The lactic acid in my legs was building and they begged me to quit. I found a faster song on my iPod shuffle. More motivation. I looked at my Garmin running watch. One mile to go.

“Almost done. Focus. Hang in there,” I told myself.

It was the last mile of the 13.1-mile Healdsburg Half Marathon in October 2012. I had a great race so far. My goal was to finish in under an hour and forty minutes. I knew I was on pace to meet that goal, but it was getting harder.

“Focus. Manage your breathing. Don’t bend you arms too much.”

I distracted myself by looking at the houses or counting my steps. I looked at my watch again. Less than a mile to go. I checked my pace—I was getting faster. Still, my lungs screamed and my heart was pounding. My “willpower muscle” was getting a workout.

“Almost done. Hang in there. This is just like your training runs. You’ve been here before.”

Will this mile ever end? I rounded a corner and I could see the finish line. I picked up the pace a little more. As I crossed the finish line, I looked at the clock: 1:36.28. I beat my goal by three and a half minutes. Even though it hurt the worst, the last mile was my fastest.

“Thank You, God. I need water…”

2007 National Guard Convention 5K in Puerto Rico

Lessons from Running

Running has taught me many things over the years. Discipline, prior planning, perseverance. Perhaps the most valuable lesson is perseverance. I’ve needed it this week. The GVHD in my eyes has not improved much and therefore I cannot be weaned from the steroids and photopheresis as quickly as expected. This will require us to stay in Houston for at least a couple more weeks. This news was, to say the least, disappointing.

I know what some are thinking…what’s two more weeks? In the grand scheme of life, not much. But when you’ve already been gone so long and thought you had almost completed the race, it’s significant.

Here is something else that running taught me: you don’t learn perseverance when you can see the finish line. It’s not learned on the plane ride home from a deployment or on the couch. Perseverance is learned by donning your body armor and 50 pounds of gear when it’s 130 degrees outside to go on another patrol even though you know you’ll be shot at. It’s learned on mile 13 of a half-marathon when you have no idea where the finish line is. It’s learned when you are 1,100 miles from home and family and aren’t sure when you’ll be back there.

Finish Strong

I’ve written before about the story I want to tell my daughters one day. I want it to be a story of faith and hope and, yes, perseverance. I want them to know their Daddy and Mommy continued to trust the Lord when things got harder. This doesn’t by any means diminish our challenges. They are real and painful. They do not, however, define us. This story motivates us to press on.

How you finish something matters. Quit on the last mile and you’ll remember the race as a bad one. Think about it: would we follow a Savior who was dragged reluctantly, against his will, to the Cross? Of course not. We will, however, follow Him who willingly traveled the final mile to his death out of unimaginable love for us. Jesus is the standard of perseverance and model for our character. Our trial is nothing compared to His, but it doesn’t have to be. He knows our struggles and has felt our pain. He already paid the very highest price so that we can have the hope that carries through the last mile.

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2 Comments

James Cooper April 16, 2014 at 11:48 pm

That last paragraph is super deep stuff; such fantastic insight!

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1. Jeff Cole April 29, 2014 at 5:24 pm
  
  Thanks, Derek,
  
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