It is about the power of being persistent in your effort, consistent in doing your best, and faithful to that which you have set out to accomplish.
This blog is part of my Client Stories - Real people who take on challenges, overcome them, and inspire myself and others along the way. This one, in particular, I pulled from the unpublished chapters of the book I was writing 3 years ago.
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“Amy, I can’t really hear you.” I said, my ears reaching through the phone to try and understand her.
“I’m in the closet, hiding from my kids.”
“Oh!” We both started laughing.
Whenever I train moms for marathons I make sure to pad the schedule. Meaning, I know there will be weeks where something will come up with their kids and it will be literally impossible for them to hit their mileage or get their training runs in. So I build in a couple of extra training weeks towards the end as well as plan for a “stuff hits the fan” week where rest assured, moms will go into super mom mode, rescuing their kids and family, leaving no time for rest or self-care.
Amy had made a goal to run the Big Sur marathon but she was worried about the time limit. Was she going to be picked up by the bus for running too slow of a pace? The question haunted her! This was her first marathon and she was determined not to fall short so she hired me as her running coach and we worked together to figure out a plan that would not only get her through the finish line but work with her super mom-of-3-while-working-full-time-as-a-teacher schedule. (I shudder even thinking about that schedule. Even to this day, I bow down to that level of courageousness!)
Every week she’d do her best to get her cross-training and miles in. Some days she’d have to be ok with not making it out to the gym because one of her kids was sick or something came up with the babysitting. Some nights I’d see her update her tracking sheet with a run she completed at 10 PM. I remember doing a training call with her one evening and she was talking in a hushed voice. It turns out she was hiding in the closet from her kids so she could get a few minutes to focus! We both had a good laugh once she confessed this. I was in total awe of her.
As the big race approached, life was happening and she wasn’t able to get all her miles in. Every time she checked in though, there was something in her voice that told me that no matter what, she was going to complete this. So, we stayed the course. I ran her last long run with her before her taper week. We spent those hours at a conversation pace and it was amazing. For some, running can be such a cumbersome activity. But that morning it was a relief filled decompression session.
It also gave me time with her to see where she was mentally and spiritually before the big day. After 15 miles I knew her spirit and faith would carry her. If you looked at her tracking sheet there might be some concern about her meeting her goal. On paper, it didn’t “add up.” But there wasn’t a doubt in my heart or mind. I met up with her as she was leaving town for the race weekend and gave her one last hug. She would go on to rock that race, completing one of the more difficult courses you could do for her first marathon.
She taught me that sometimes faith can be a blind walk forward, stumbling many times along the way, believing we'll get there, but unsure of how. It's a testament to the power of hope and conviction. Why else would we keep stepping forward when we can’t see?
What finish line are you looking towards? Remain committed to it. Moving to it and through it. With a faith that laughs at unfavorable circumstances, knowing that they don’t define who we are. It’s what we do with them that reveals the power of our spirit.
I wrote at the beginning of this week about the power of trying. How you might end up running a 5k. Today is about the power of being persistent in your effort, consistent in doing your best, and faithful to that which you have set out to accomplish. Who knows. Maybe you’ll run a marathon.
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Photo Credit: Chao Yen CC By-ND 2.0