The Road to Boston

The Road To Boston

In exactly four months I will be running down the streets of Boston with thousands of other runners. I have wanted to run the Boston Marathon for about twenty years. I started training in April 2006. That was about sixty pounds ago. I qualified for Boston on my first attempt at the Lewis and Clark Marathon in Sioux City, Iowa, on Saturday, October 21st, 2006. Over the next four months you can read about a dream coming true and my thoughts about running, God, and life.

Today's Training

This morning Maureen and I ran 15.30 miles in just over 2 hours. We ran on a hilly course on the gravle roads surrounding her and her husband's horse farm. We couldn't have asked for a nicer morning.

Running can be done by oneself or it can be done with others. The same is true for life. I could have run 15.3 miles by myself this morning, but it is much more fun and meaningful to do it with someone else. Maureen is a better runner than me. She has won marathons and is a gritty runner. She makes me a better and more consistant runner. In life I am blessed to have a small group from my church who makes life more fun and meaningful and makes me better. The same can be said for friends and family.

Any of us can choose to live life alone. We all have that capability. But God has a better plan. Paul writes, "Bear each other's burdens and fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2) Ecclesiastes writes, "If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone?" (Ecclesiastes 4:10-11)

So I thank God for friends and family who bear my burdens, reach out to me, keep me warm, make life more fun and meaningful, and make me better.