National Hobo Convention, part 1
Not something I ever thought I would attend, but stranger things have happened. I'm not even sure words can describe the Hobo Days Celebration that takes place in Britt, Iowa each summer. Atleast I am not able to put words to the experience (not yet)! Jay Leno gave them a nod in his monologue last week. My boyfriend, Brennen, grew up on a farm near Britt, so we went camping with his brother and sister and their families.
My New Year's resolution for '06 was to run a 5k. I didn't train at all this summer to actually succeed at this, but I decided a resolution is a resolution, and I was going to run the Hobo Run, even if it killed me. It about did kill me.
There was a 10k run, 5k run, and 5k walk. Brennon and I signed up for the run. I made Brennon promise to run to the finish line behind me, so I wouldn't be the last person to cross on my first 5k run. (Being the nice guy he is, he ran with me, even though his pace is naturally about twice as fast as mine). I had said that kind of jokingly while we waited to get going at the start line. Ha ha ha. I was beat by a walker. One walker finished ahead of me, and one 10k runner finished right after me. Brennon was good on his promise and let me cross the finish line first, only to have the stupid time keeper call out his race number first. So in the record books, I officially finished last in the 5k run. But I did it. I can barely walk now, but I can now walk away from that resolution. No more nagging voice in the back of my head asking "when are you going to do that run?"
Spiritual point, if there is one: Training is important. If you jump into something ill-prepared, you will pay for it later. Paul talks about running the race, and if we want any hope of finishing the race set before us, we better train. Apply that however you like - be in training with prayer, quiet time each day, reading, serving others...we can't just do this stuff every once in a while and think everything will go smoothly. It needs to be a regular part of our lives.
I have a new goal - next time I want to finish ahead of ALL walkers in my run, and cross the finish line in less than 37 minutes!
-mel
My New Year's resolution for '06 was to run a 5k. I didn't train at all this summer to actually succeed at this, but I decided a resolution is a resolution, and I was going to run the Hobo Run, even if it killed me. It about did kill me.
There was a 10k run, 5k run, and 5k walk. Brennon and I signed up for the run. I made Brennon promise to run to the finish line behind me, so I wouldn't be the last person to cross on my first 5k run. (Being the nice guy he is, he ran with me, even though his pace is naturally about twice as fast as mine). I had said that kind of jokingly while we waited to get going at the start line. Ha ha ha. I was beat by a walker. One walker finished ahead of me, and one 10k runner finished right after me. Brennon was good on his promise and let me cross the finish line first, only to have the stupid time keeper call out his race number first. So in the record books, I officially finished last in the 5k run. But I did it. I can barely walk now, but I can now walk away from that resolution. No more nagging voice in the back of my head asking "when are you going to do that run?"
Spiritual point, if there is one: Training is important. If you jump into something ill-prepared, you will pay for it later. Paul talks about running the race, and if we want any hope of finishing the race set before us, we better train. Apply that however you like - be in training with prayer, quiet time each day, reading, serving others...we can't just do this stuff every once in a while and think everything will go smoothly. It needs to be a regular part of our lives.
I have a new goal - next time I want to finish ahead of ALL walkers in my run, and cross the finish line in less than 37 minutes!
-mel
posted by Melanie at 5:16 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home