One week left before departure to Nepal.
What better way to mark the occasion than to run a marathon! I signed up for the Bob Potts marathon in York, PA well before I decided to apply for the RTC fellowship that is taking me to Nepal, so this connection was not one I designed. But it has turned out to be wonderful preparation in a way I didn't expect.
Today I ran my third marathon. My first was one year ago (the Vermont City marathon), and I ran the Philadelphia marathon in the Fall of 2013. My wife Sandi was my inspiration, and friends Scott and Heather and the group of runners they introduced me to have added fuel to the fire.
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Photo of Philip and his inspiration and reigning Kuhl family marathon champ - Sandi
Marathons are grueling. They pit your drive and bravado against the undeniable fact that your body has limits. When runners get to about mile 21 or so, some of them deplete the glycogen stored in their body tissues, begin to burn fat, and "hit the wall." When this happens to me, I slow down, period. I also find that runners want to keep their distance - well, I'll leave that for your imagination or another runner to explain. I had all the intentions in the world today to hit my goal of finishing this marathon in under four hours, but I achieved a finishing time of 4:11, slower than my goal but still over 10 minutes better than my last marathon and a personal best.
Today's experience reminded me that while limits exist, I have a choice as to how to respond to that fact. I spent a little over fours hours this morning thoroughly exploring the limits of my body. I pushed hard at those limits during my training and during the race today, and felt some satisfaction in pushing them back a little.
Staying in a "safe place" prevents me from exploring, scouting, and challenging my limits. In this way, going to Nepal next week and running the marathon today are connected in that they are opportunities to get out of my comfort zone, challenge limits, push them back a little, and grow. I look to God to chart my course and shepherd my growth. He seems more than happy to oblige.
In what ways have you explored your limits lately? What have you learned? I'd love to hear about it.
What better way to mark the occasion than to run a marathon! I signed up for the Bob Potts marathon in York, PA well before I decided to apply for the RTC fellowship that is taking me to Nepal, so this connection was not one I designed. But it has turned out to be wonderful preparation in a way I didn't expect.
Today I ran my third marathon. My first was one year ago (the Vermont City marathon), and I ran the Philadelphia marathon in the Fall of 2013. My wife Sandi was my inspiration, and friends Scott and Heather and the group of runners they introduced me to have added fuel to the fire.
Photo of Philip and his inspiration and reigning Kuhl family marathon champ - Sandi
Marathons are grueling. They pit your drive and bravado against the undeniable fact that your body has limits. When runners get to about mile 21 or so, some of them deplete the glycogen stored in their body tissues, begin to burn fat, and "hit the wall." When this happens to me, I slow down, period. I also find that runners want to keep their distance - well, I'll leave that for your imagination or another runner to explain. I had all the intentions in the world today to hit my goal of finishing this marathon in under four hours, but I achieved a finishing time of 4:11, slower than my goal but still over 10 minutes better than my last marathon and a personal best.
Today's experience reminded me that while limits exist, I have a choice as to how to respond to that fact. I spent a little over fours hours this morning thoroughly exploring the limits of my body. I pushed hard at those limits during my training and during the race today, and felt some satisfaction in pushing them back a little.
Staying in a "safe place" prevents me from exploring, scouting, and challenging my limits. In this way, going to Nepal next week and running the marathon today are connected in that they are opportunities to get out of my comfort zone, challenge limits, push them back a little, and grow. I look to God to chart my course and shepherd my growth. He seems more than happy to oblige.
In what ways have you explored your limits lately? What have you learned? I'd love to hear about it.
