I woke up as a 50 year old man this morning. As I got up to go to the bathroom and get ready to run I noticed the PF pain in my right heel was being very successful at trying get my attention, and some left knee pain was making some noise, too. After going to the bathroom I decided to just crawl back into bed. As I laid there, cuddled comfortably up next to Karen, I asked myself if I really wanted to start the next 50 years by taking the easy (lazy) path. That isn't what I wanted, so I got up, got dressed to run, stretched my foot well, and headed to the corner to see if anyone would be joining me this morning.
Nobody was there, so I ran alone. I would have very much enjoyed running with a buddy or two (or more), but running alone allowed me to ponder on the past 50 years. I felt very grateful, and thought I ought to post something on Facebook today. I quickly realized that I had so many memories and blessings that it would be very difficult to fit them all into the small amount of text allowed in a Facebook post. As I thought back, I tried to boil big things down to a single word or two. Here's what I came up with:
"Paul Thomas is 50 years old! Countless memories and blessings, itty bitty writing space. Life. Love. Karen. Six (+1) children. Family. Heritage. Running buddies. Friends. Good people. Earth. Creation. Physical activity. Beauty. Music. Freedom. Knowledge. Opportunity. Inspiration. Faith. Hope. Charity. Forgiveness. Peace. Joy. Contentment. Gratitude. Looking forward to the next 50 years..."
When I'm running, and feel like letting up, or cutting short, or giving up, I envision a chalkboard hanging in the air in front of me, just above my head. It's for keeping score. I put a tally mark on the left side of the board every time I want to quit and don't. The right side is for when I give in and give up. It's amazing how motivating this imaginary chalkboard is to me. I love putting tally marks on the left side of the board, and hate even the thought of having to put a tally mark on the right side.
I got two tally marks on the left side today. The first is for getting out of bed and running alone on my 50th birthday with a sore knee and foot. The second is for averaging 8:59/mi instead of 9:05/mi. The route I ran to the library this morning is mostly downhill out, and mostly uphill back. My average pace was at around 9:07/mi the first half. I pushed a little harder on the way back hoping to get around 9:00/mi for the run, but as I neared the finish my average pace was 9:05/mi. I knew I couldn't make it all up in the remaining distance, but decided to push hard anyway. As I reached my house and the planned end of my run, the average pace had dropped to 9:02/mi. I decided to hold the fast pace for as long as it took to get the average pace down to 8:59. It only took to the end of the street. To illustrate how hard I pushed at the end to meet this goal, my mile splits for this 6.2 mile run were 8:54, 9:02, 9:11, 9:32, 8:52, 9:00, and 6:22/mi for the last 0.2 miles.
The endurance I've learned from running...the putting forth that extra bit of effort...the not giving up...the holding on a little bit longer...the earning the left-side tally mark...have helped me in all areas of my life. As I'm sure each of you is personally aware, life is not always easy. In fact, it seems it rarely is. It's my personal experience that if we just hang in there, believe in ourselves, courageously explore our limits, work hard to take advantage of our opportunities, and don't get too discouraged when we fall short, that over time...say 50 years or so...we can look back see just how far we've come, how blessed we are, and how the hard times have made us stronger.
The last three verses we read in our family scripture reading this morning (Alma 26:35-37) touched my heart as they seemed to be saying what I had felt during my run this morning:
"35 Now have [I] not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never [was a man] that had so great reason to rejoice as [I], since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a merciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name.
"36 Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God...who has been mindful of [me], [a] wanderer in a strange land.
"37 Now my [friends], we see that God is mindful of every [person], whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his [children], and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen."
The title of my running blog is "Every Race is an Adventure!", and my life has truly been a great race so far, a great adventure. It should be even better now that I'm clearly over the hill and running on a gentle downhill grade.
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