Take a Break?

"Don't worry private, keep running.  You'll pass out before you die!"  This is what my friend, a super cool Latina I’ve known since childhood, mentioned to me in an email this morning.  The words were used by her drill sergeant to inspire new recruits.

I love the message but still did not run this morning nor plan on running tonight.  Am I letting up on my commitment? No, I don’t think so.  I’m just following orders to take a break and let my body recover a bit. The spirit is strong but the flesh is weak.  I don’t really know much about running training but I do know what muscle spasms feel like!

You see that’s the great thing about growing older.  You realize you don’t need to run through walls all the time (as a younger man I thought this was the only way to move forward).  It’s ok to let the hero die.  No one will miss him.  Not even you.

Abraham Lincoln used to say you need to know when to push forward and when to pull back.  Today, I’m pulling back.

Will it take extra effort to get-up and run tomorrow morning after today’s break?  Probably, but this is how I'm going to test my resolve.  Over the next 5.5 months I will get to relive this test over and over again.  I only pray God blesses me with the grace to make it to race day, and even then I'm sure I'll be tempted to quit.  Maybe St. Ralph will intercede for me.

I think I’m starting to understand how this whole journey thing works (after watching Star Wars, The Matrix, Avatar, etc... of course).  It starts off with a moment of inspiration. You run a bit, write about it, take a break, and think it’s all good. Then come a bunch of trials and tribulations followed by a breakdown (you will get to laugh at my pain at this point). Next, and if you persevere, divine intervention will help you to a breakthrough, but you better have some faith on hand.  If you can endure, the journey will reach its climax and you will return to normal life forever changed (hopefully for the better). The journey is well worth the effort but seldom completed. Why? Because it’s damn hard. I can only imagine how many journeys I have abandoned when I no longer felt they were worth it. Sad thought.

Today’s lesson? The journey is rough but it generally won’t kill you. Push when you need to and pull back when you have to. Kind of sounds like a running metaphor. I like it.

Here's a video on "Saint Ralph" if you're interested.