42.125 and more

As you all know, yesterday was my first marathon, running a time of 6.5 hours, and of course along the way ate my first packet of power gel, collected my first finisher tee and medal, perhaps poured the most cups of water over my head and rubbed the most muscle relief cream, all over the course of 6.5 hours.

42.125km, as I was running, was not as gruelling as it seemed to be. It was tiring in the beginning, as I struggled to pick up momentum and my leg felt stiff... and I found myself needing to visit the washroom three times along the first half of the run. Perhaps because I have completed 21km before and I have ran that route before (it was a combination of the 2 half I ran previously), it wasn't as mentally tiring as the last two half marathon. And perhaps because I know I wouldn't be able to catch the people running with me (namely Shuyi and Matthew), I didn't felt that stressed and was running my own pace. And perhaps because I was afraid that I would not see the crowd (as in the case of AHM) when I return, I kept on pushing myself to follow the crowd.

The muscle cream helped a lot along the way, together with the helpful (yet disgusting) power gel and the sticky power bar, and of course the abundance of 100plus. The muscle cream really worked wonders and I wonder why they dun provide it during the AHM. And I thank Jesus that I ran fast enough to grab the last power bar.

Perhaps because I was running on myself, I was able to focus my attention throughout the run on one thing alone - Jesus. I was praying along the way, desperately asking Him to sustain me for the whole journey. One thing I know for sure is that I dun want to be the last to return and I dun want to return alone. And fascinating is that God really sent people along the way to encourage me, with the writings on their back. There was this lady who wrote 'I run because He first ran to me'. I was 'wowed' and touched, unable to disagree with her. Another guy has it written 'The race of life is knowing Lord Jesus'. Couldn't differ with that. There was at least 2 ladies, I saw, who ran for their husbands, albeit that the guys had already passed on. It was sad thinking of that, but that helped me going. I was thinking to myself, that I actually enjoy running these long distance runs, although I could be slow or what. Somehow or rather, I could feel God's pleasure when I run, although I know I am not made for running. The point I got is that if even at things that I know that I am not made for I can feel His pleasure, then when I'm doing the things that I am made for, shouldn't I feel more of His pleasure, shouldn't I feel more of his presence?

Alas, fun as it is, I saw people who were waiting for their friends to complete the race with them. I was quite touched by these friendships, they can run faster, they can complete the race with better timing, but their goal is not to complete the race in their best timing or be competitive or what, but they want to complete the race together with their friends, no matter how slow they are. I often wonder...

Anyway, it's 42.125km completed. One more next year, one more the next next year, one more the next......

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