10 hours and 54 minutes taught me a lot

As we continue the 6-day (and still goin' strong) process of unloading/unpacking from our trip to Colorado, I'm struck by how HARD it is to "re-enter" reality after such an epic adventure.

Adventure...that's definitely what it's been.

Not just a 2-week adventure, mind you...but a 6+ month quest...leading up to the culminating 10:54 of our trip. Adventure, yep, that's the right word.

As always, I've spent the past few days thinking/praying (and pouting a lot bc its freakin HOT here) as I reflect on our Colorado trip and Brent's Leadville finish. I'll tell you this about my crazy man, I've never met someone as mentally tough or dedicated. I'm in awe of some of the ways he wills himself thru struggles...there's rarely any sign of give-up or complaining. In fact, in the garage above his bike area he has a quote from John Wooden that says: "Don't whine. Don't complain. Don't make excuses." 

10:54. That's how long it took him to complete this race that he's spent 6+ months preparing for. Its seemed like an eternity, but truly, it was faster than any of us (except him, of course) thought we'd see him cross the finish line.

But for him - he later told me - he KNEW he was ready when he lined up to race. He had put in the training. He had effectively changed his day-to-day life, made sacrifices, and changed priorities that others often didn't understand for months and months to prepare for this moment.  When we sat thru the pre-race meeting, I loved what 6-time champ, Dave Weins said, "Every single person on that course will think about quitting more than once...but DON'T QUIT. Just put your head down and stare at that tire and then look up, and you'll be at the next rest stop...then look at that tire again, and look up again and before you know it you'll be at the finish. Don't quit."  Gulp. After the race I asked Brent if he felt that "I wanna quit" that Dave talked about...he shocked me when he said w/o pause: "never".

He was ready for that day. And he knew that he could do it. No whining. No complaining. No excuses. He said to me, "I was in more pain than I'd ever been in before. But I kept telling myself, 'You KNEW this was going to hurt...you knew it'd be hard...now get over it.' I consciously decided not to let my mind go negative. I tried to take it all in...every smell, every pain, every view. I spent all these months getting ready and I wasn't going to let my mind talk me into missing a single moment of it."

And it ended up being the most rewarding personal accomplishment of his life. 

As he told me all of this - thru dust-burned eyes and severe tired head - I couldn't help but feel the contagiousness of his accomplishment. It made me think thru all the things I work on and struggle thru and SO EASILY let my focus drift off to the negative. "You aren't making any impact." "You can't do this." "You will fail." "You aren't ready for this."

For 10:54 he denied those negative thoughts. I'll never get over that. I'll never forget watching him roll across the line...not because it was over, but because for him, I could see that this moment was bigger than just a race. He defeated that trail and also his human nature.

I wanna be like him. I think about how hard LIFE can be - the BIG hard stuff and even the petty stuff that bogs us down and I think of his words to himself: "you KNEW this was going to hurt...you KNEW it'd be hard...now get over it." We spend so much of our lives preparing for what God'd have us walk thru, but when push comes to shove we let every other voice tell us we'll fail...and we believe them. I wanna take in every smell, pain, and view...every single one.

I'm proud of my man. 10:54 and a week plus a belt buckle later and we're planning the trip for next year. I have no doubts he'll do it again. I learned a lot from that 10:54...can't wait to see what he'll teach me for that sub-10 he's shooting for next.

"It's the things that you never get over that build the character of the man..." - Stephen Kellogg

Comments

[Brent]

As we discussed--it's not about the destination it's about the people you bring along with you as you get there. Awesome blog and it sums up what the journey is all about. "you are better than you think you are and you can do more than you think you can" -Leadville wisdom

[Jamie Michael]

And what a perfect helpmate the Lord has given your man! He is blessed to have your support and encouragement. Looks like God took this opportunity to grow and mature multiple people, not just the racer! What a great life lesson...we ALL have something to learn in every circumstance...we just have to be open to the teaching! Love you!

[Monica Monasmith]

Thank you! I needed to hear this. I've realized lately that I'm a pretty big pain avoider. If something hurts I try to make it stop. Just about an hour before I read this I was unloading my car that was packed to the top with groceries and various things for school. I was almost finished and wanted to take a break before finishing the last couple of loads. God gave me eyes to see that this is a pattern with me. Not just in groceries but in everything. I'm excited to watch how he uses this wisdom to transform me. One thing I'm hoping to do is to get back into running.