Eating
Cake, Just Not the Icing
I hope I’m allowed to write this. I’m a non-finisher.
I’m a grateful non-finisher, too.
I disappointed lots of my friends: this was to be my year
to finish the Mountain Masochist – after 3 other attempts.
This was supposed to be my year. It’s hard to disappoint
people. That’s the hardest part.
But I view it differently than other people who’ve failed
to cross the finish line, and especially this year, the year that
I put in more-than-enough mileage, did workouts that were
tougher than the part of the race I completed, back-to-back
workouts where I did the 2nd half of the course and 18 miles
in the mountains the next day; 8 weeks where I did 60 + miles
a week and 7 X 20-plus mile workouts. Everyone knew it
was
my
year. My friends
all said it: this
was my year.
But it wasn’t.
Did I go out too fast? I went out really conservatively.
Did I eat (or drink) enough? Yup. I drank and ate plenty.
Did I fail to taper? Nope. I was well-rested.
Too early in the morning?
Nope: I run at least 2 days a week at
Am I a wimp? (Maybe. But considering the training, I doubt it.)
Was it too cold? For me, maybe. But if that’s the issue, I have to
ask:
Who
sets the thermostat?
I didn’t. And
I didn’t adapt to what the temperature gauge read.
Still,
this is the least embarrassed I’ve ever been after a non-finish.
I trained for this, did what it took to finish. There are reasons – (which I can’t get into) – that it was more important for me to be at the finish line as a spectator than as a Finisher.
All I can say is that I believe that it was God’s Design. Doesn’t matter if you
don’t believe me. I’m pretty sure I know why it was designed to unfold this
way.
Plenty
of Cake: No Icing
I didn’t get to eat the icing on the cake, but I did eat the proverbial cake:
the cake was the training, the hours spent in the woods on the trails and on
roads with friends whose company I’ve enjoyed and counted on; the icing ,
sweet as it would have been, was the embroidery on the LUS Jacket with my
name on it. (Celebration-cakes usually have the name of the person celebrating
a birthday or special event: their name is written in the icing.)
This cake was the sustenance I found in the Lord; I’m filled, satisfied,
thankful. I found the meaning of the race, this year, this time, after it was over
and after the last person completed the run, after I’d gone home. And quite
honestly,
if I had to do it all over again, I’d
write the script exactly the same.
Next Year
I’m looking forward to
first time last year) and Promised Land (which I finished 2 hours faster
than I had the first year the race was held.) I’m looking forward to seeing
many of you there. And at next year’s Mountain Masochist.
Congratulations
to all of you who got to eat the icing!
Jim McFarland, CMT