I stood toward the back of the second corral at the start of the 2010 Long Beach International City Marathon, among those with predicted marathon finish times of about 3 hours and 40 minutes. This was my 21st marathon in 8 years, and possibly my last for a while, as I decided instead to give the triathlon a try the following year. My training cycle for this race was pretty meager compared to preparations for previous races, and I dreaded the thought of running out of gas and hitting the wall during the second half of the race. After all, I had never quite mastered the art of proper pacing during my first 20 races, and invariably would start too fast and bonk with several miles remaining. Although my most recent race times were in the 3:20s to 3:30s range, I decided to line myself further back for once, to see if a deliberately slower start would lead me toward a stronger finish.
As the race unfolded, I tried initially to more or less to keep pace with the runners around me, rather than my usual habit of weaving and passing others. As the crowd thinned out a bit, I looked for young ladies with good running form to guide my effort and speed, as I learned that female runners tend to be better at pacing than males over long distances (they were also nice to look at, but that was a fringe benefit). I crossed the half-way point nearly 15 minutes slower than my fastest earlier efforts, and started to wonder whether I made a serious strategic error. If I was going to hit the wall at mile 20, I might not be able to finish the race in 4 hours.
Thankfully, the dreaded bonk never happened. The conservative effort during the first half paid off handsomely, as I was able to maintain my pace almost throughout the race, and got to experience the thrill of picking off fatiguing runners one by one during the last 10 miles. I crossed the finish line about a minute in front of the 3:40 pace team, and though my time was quite slow compared to those earlier in the year, I was able to achieve a “negative split” for the first time. It turned out that I ran the second half of the 26.2 mile race one minute faster than the first half, while a 10 – 20 minutes of positive split was the rule for me in earlier events, even on the same course. I was able to finish up strong.
As I am now well into the second half of my earthly existence, I am concerned not only with finishing up strong during races, but in life as well. Unfortunately, the world is full of individuals who were brilliant in their pursuits and full of promise during their younger years, but ended their lives disastrously as they succumbed to the consequences of sin, pride and/or indiscretion. The sports world is replete with examples of athletes with multi-million contracts who became destitute within a few years of retirement, and many who lived less glamorous lives lamented in their waning moments dreams that were shattered by drugs, alcoholism, unhealthy lifestyles, hatred, unforgiveness or infidelity. Thankfully, the year 2010 was also notable for two godly men, Mr. Art Linkletter (best known for hosting the television program, “Kids Say the Darndest Things”, and Coach John Wooden, former basketball coach at UCLA, who completed their lives victoriously during the tenth decade of their lives. These men remained faithful to the Lord and continued to be sources of inspiration and positive influence to generations of people through their wisdom and service until they breathed their last, and will forever be remembered among those few who finished well.
The Bible also is full of examples of individuals who failed to finish well. Saul was the son of “a man of standing”, was “an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites”, and was chosen to be the first king of Israel. Yet, his life ended miserably, as pride, jealousy and disobedience caused him to unravel, and God eventually rejected him as king. King David, his successor, was a man after God's own heart, but his legacy was forever tarnished by adultery and murder. The list of poor finishers in the Bible also includes Solomon, Asa, Hezekiah...a virtual biblical hall of fame. Nevertheless, strong finishers do exist in the Bible, and among them include Enoch, Joshua, Caleb, Daniel, many of the early Christian apostles, and Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
May we fix our eyes on the road ahead and finish up strong.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:7-8
No comments:
Post a Comment