Hard lessons...
I learned some very valuable lessons Saturday morning. Along with a few friends, I ran the Parkersburg 1/2 marathon for the third time. Just two blocks away from the finish line, I had a heat stroke/heat exhaustion and hit the pavement. I don't remember anything but I was told that an ambulance picked me up and took me to a tent where medical personel gave me 2 IV bags of fluid and pretty much packed me in ice. My temperature was up to 104 and I didn't become conscious until they had given me one complete IV bag. It took quite a while before I started feeling any sense of normalcy.
It was a beautiful day and unusually cool. I made it a point to stop at almost every water station. It should have been the best race day ever. So why did I crash & burn? Two reasons (at least). First, I didn't train as hard as I had for previous races. Lesson: You must train equally as hard for the third race as the first. There is no substitute for preparation and you can't rely on previous victories to win present challenges.
Second, I ran entirely too fast. Due to reason number one, I planned to run 9 minute miles and still finish under 2 hours. At the halfway point, I was at 51 minutes and at mile 10, I was still 4 minutes under a 9 minute pace. Not surprisingly, that was pretty much the last mile marker I remember. Lesson: It's better to walk, if necessary, and finish well than to keep running and burn out.
Of course, the spiritual applications are numerous. I can't rely on yesterday's anointing for today's ministry. It's best to keep in step with the Spirit instead of running ahead. And the most important lesson for me was that God's love for me is not impacted whatsoever by my performance or lack of it. Good lessons. I just wish I hadn't learned them the hard way!
At any rate, I have had a very fast recovery. It was great to preach at St. Mark's this morning then show 5 houses to a client this afternoon. Aside from normal sore legs, I feel great. And a little wiser from the experience.
posted by Scott @ 8:46 PM
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