Have you ever had an experience that changed your life? Sometimes things happen to us that can shape the way we look at life and even live it. That happened to me recently.
My dad runs marathons. As of this summer, he had run three I believe. It’s kind of his thing. He’s a great runner. I, on the other hand, don’t really enjoy running all that much. I mean, I’ll run to stay in shape or train for other sports I enjoy. But ultimately, it’s not my thing. That being said, running a marathon was always on my mental “bucket list.” I figured that if my dad has done these and enjoyed them, I could at least try to do one.
So I signed up for a marathon somewhat on a whim at the beginning of the summer. It was the Rock n’ Roll Marathon in Denver slated for October. I paid the money and was committed. I even made a quick post on Facebook for accountability so at least a few people would know I was supposed to do this insane endeavor. There was no backing out. That was until……..I realized my wife and I had a conflict the weekend of my marathon. Suddenly I had a reason I could back out. We were scheduled to go to Austin and visit a friend.
I had been training for a couple months when I realized the conflict. After haggling with the insurance carrier for the race I signed up for, I realized I was not going to even get my money back. This opened up an opportunity for me though. It gave me the opportunity to run a marathon with my dad in Indianapolis on the weekend of my birthday. It was an even better outcome. My dad even paid for my marathon as a gift. How awesome is that?
So I booked my flight and continued on with my training and just tweaked it to fit my dad’s training schedule. I tried to carefully follow the strict training regimen as closely as possible. In early October I had a “long run” of 20 miles. This was a big deal. I had not ever run that far before. So I set out on the run. At the 16th mile I felt a sharp pain in my left knee that I had never felt before in my life. It practically stopped me in my tracks. But I was only at mile 16. I had 4 miles to go. So I stubbornly ran through the pain, which I realized later was very foolish. Continuing through the pain ended up exacerbating the injury with bad running form. I did make it home after running 20 miles, but I was officially injured.
I found out later through research and talking to some seasoned runners that what I had was an IT Band injury. And it was a pretty rough one. I only had about three weeks until my race, and now I had an injury that literally sidelined me. Everything I read and everyone I talked to said I just needed to rest my knee, ice it, stretch, and run when I was not in pain.
I was crushed. I’d been training for months for this thing and had invested so much time and energy, and now I might not even get to run this marathon. Furthermore, I was looking forward to the time shared doing something my dad loved. I did not want to let him down either.
That’s when I realized all I could do was pray, train sparingly, rest, and give it my best shot. During some of the training runs I would experience intense pain in my knee after 4 or 6 miles. Things were looking bad.
Fast forward to November 7, 2015: The Monumental Marathon race day in Indianapolis. I was standing with thousands of runners in downtown Indianapolis next to my dad. I’d flown in late the night before and was running on less than 6 hours of sleep. I was nervous.
I had prayed a lot leading up to this that God would help me run the race and help me finish. I knew the odds were stacked against me and it could be a really painful day mentally, physically and emotionally. I am a pretty competitive person, so I knew anything less than finishing would devastate me. Others like my parents, wife, friends, parents-in-law and others were praying for me.
The gun went off, and the race started. After the first mile, my dad asked me how I was feeling. I said, “I feel ok.” Inside I was really thinking: I’m in pain after one mile, and I need to go over 25 more!? I’m in trouble! I also had forgotten to stretch amidst trying to follow along with my dad’s pre-marathon rituals. At the 4 mile mark I was in considerable pain in my same left knee, so I told my dad to go ahead while I stretched.
I stretched for a couple minutes, and then started running again. It took me a little bit, but I caught up with dad. I was praying during this time asking God to help me get further and still try to finish even with the pain.
A little way before the fifth mile marker I caught up with my dad. He was doing great. Then something I did not ever expect happened. I started feeling great too! I got into this groove where the pain went away while I ran. Later Dad and I took a “pit stop” around the 13-mile mark, and stopping made my knee lock up in pain instantly. I started to worry, but was reminded that God had it under control. If He wanted me to finish this race, He would make a way.
Once I started running again the pain went away yet another time. I saw my mom cheering us on along the way a little bit later, and that really made me feel good too. I gave her a big hug. I continued to feel good and more confident the further I ran. This continued until the 22-mile mark. At that point Dad needed to stop and stretch.
Now Dad and I had worked out a plan earlier where if I was holding him up, he knew he had the freedom and my permission to leave me behind especially if my injury was holding him back. It was amazing that we’d run together for almost the entire 22 miles. When he stopped, I briefly stopped too and asked Dad if he minded if I continued on. I was concerned with my knee locking up again and pain flaring from my IT band. Dad said to go ahead. And so I did.
As I rounded Meridian Street, I believe it was near the 24th mile, I saw the great Indianapolis skyline in front of me. I was listening to a song by Lecrae that reminded me at that moment that God was actually carrying me through this race. I knew all I needed was God’s strength and he was making all this possible. Emotion swept over me during this realization of God’s power and how He was sustaining me. It was a really cool moment that I will never forget.
I then was able to run considerably faster those last two miles as I neared the finish. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was not me propelling myself forward, but it was a real miracle of God’s providence. As I neared the finish line with people cheering, it was surreal. I “kicked” at the end and made it to the very finish where I saw my mother and was greeted by the amazing volunteers for the marathon. My knee instantly swelled with pain right after I crossed the finish line. God had carried me there. My dad finished a few minutes later. What a stud!
Now I know some people have doubts when they hear people claim to see or experience a miracle in modern times. Some think that miracles are reserved for the Old Testament or another time or simply don’t believe in them at all. Science can’t explain them, and science can be relied on for everything else. So when people claim to see a miracle, I’ve seen a natural reaction to brush it off as an event that can be explained by some perfect explanation. Often Christians and non-Christians alike downplay these things.
So why am I bringing this subject of miracles up? I am talking about it, because I experienced one! The amount of prayer, pain, and anguish I went through with the injury only leads me to this conclusion. Others who have had this injury also attested to how incredible this is. I knew I could not run that race on my own power due to the pain inflicted from the injury. I thought maybe I had a chance to finish on my own by walking at parts. But God had other plans.
God made it very clear to me that if I was going to finish this race that I could only boast in him. That I would know it was not me, and that it was God who made it all happen. And I know that. I truly believe He answered the prayers of me and those praying for me, and He showed me firsthand what a modern miracle looks and feels like. I am incredibly grateful to Him that I got to experience this. And I will never be the same again because of it.
So when people talk about a “life-changing” moment, that is exactly what this experience was for me. And I feel compelled to share this with you.
Hebrews 12:1
theskinzscoop 