Real Endurance

There are several types of endurance necessary to run in a marathon.

The most obvious is the endurance that it takes to run 26.2 miles without stopping.  There is no question in embarking upon marathon training that, if all goes as planned, your endurance will be put to the test on race day. 

But there’s only one race day.  Well, okay -- there’ll probably be more than one.  The point is that even though the training is about race day, the training process is a much larger commitment.  Even if the marathon itself turns out to be a miserable few hours, it is, alas, only a few hours.

The real test of endurance is the training that is necessary to take that few hours seriously.

I heard a Rabbi teach last week about Abraham.  Abraham endured a number of tests that demonstrated his commitment to G-d.  One of the first tests that Abraham (then Abram) was put to was when G-d commanded him to leave his homeland and set out for an unknown destination.  A later test (as related by the sages of the Talmud) involved Abraham’s angering Nimrod, the king of the land.  According to the story, Nimrod had Abraham thrown into a firey furnace.  Abraham trusted in G-d and came out of the furnace unscathed.  The result of this victory was the conversion of many souls from idolatry to monotheistic worship of Adonai.

The Rabbi’s point, however, was that the test of setting out from his homeland was a much more difficult test than being willingly thrown into a furnace.  After all, the firey furnace, regardless of the specific outcome, would only really be a test on one day.  Setting out from his home, on the other hand, was a test without an end in sight.  While the fire might take his life, the journey would certainly take Abraham’s comfort, being a man of great wealth even at the outset of his journey.

This lesson resonates with me.  It’s one thing to take a few hours and run.  Really, I’d love to do this.  But while I understand that the marathon will indeed be hard, it doesn’t compare to the difficulty of the training.  The hardest part is being away from my family for a good chunk of time on Shabbat.  Tomorrow I will be out of the house for 2.5 hours while the rest of my family remains at home.  Instead of being a relaxing time of rest for Julie, it brings the burden of being the sole caregiver for two young children who each demand quite a bit.  To that extent, it is not even my time that I am sacrificing, but that of my wife.  And believe me, that’s even harder.

October 25^th is National Married-to-a-Runner Appreciation Day.  It is the brainchild of one of the editors of Runner’s World.  I found out about it, alas, on October 26^th this year.  Even though it was a day too late, it seems that honoring your spouse for all they give up to allow you to follow your passion can never go out of style.  Excuse me, please, while I run off to the store to get some flowers on my way home.

Shabbat shalom!