Monday, May 18, 2009

God Who?

What's God's Last Name?


"Almighty", I say to my 5-year-old.
"No. It's not," she says. "It's damnit". Help.


Do you pray before a race? On Sunday I ran the Carytown 10k in Richmond, Virginia in the 60-degree rain. As always there were runners of all shapes, ages, and experience. Love it. Because it was a small race (1175 finishers) there were no corrals or staggered starts. The start-gun was cocked and excitement was spewing. I looked just over my left shoulder and saw an older gentleman with his chin slightly lowered. His eyes closed. I watched his lips sculpt the word "Amen". Most of us were aching for one last calf stretch and plotting our starting pace - or God forbid, regretting that last glass of wine. This guy gave it up. To Him. I was moved by this and wondered if this was the ultimate racing strategy.

Sometimes I pray while I run.

'Help me up this hill.'
'God, when will this be over?'
'Jeeeeeee-zuss' (across the Nickel Bridge at the end of a 20-miler.)
Done it all.


This I haven't done. Pray at the end of a race. Usually, I'm thinking about the clock, my reward for finishing (wine, coffee, bath) or my performance. I'm not thinking about my Maker. (What was his last name again?) On Sunday, I ran my personal best 10k time. 54:47. Healthy. Pain-free.


Thank God. Oh, and please - bring me to another race. Amen.

3 comments:

ShutUpandRun said...

Great post. Love it. You are speedy. Amen.

amy said...

oh, our kids are the best! they crack me up daily. you'll remember that quote forever. a little birdy told me you were over here, we'll call her Suz.

and by the way, when I ran more than I do now, I always kind of thought it WAS prayer.

Chrisy said...

I agree with Amy. I used to put my kids in the double jogger and hit the road. When they would bicker and make noise, I told them it was quiet time, Mommy was talkin' to God!

Congratulations on your PR!

(I have two blogs, so my Google ID will send you to my CSquaredPlus3 blog, but I've started a new running blog - www.seechrisyrun.com and am trying to meet new bloggy running friends. Sorry for the long explanation. I don't know how to create a new linky-ID-thingy. Technical, I know. Duh.0