Marathon Metaphors

Recently, I watched in awe as Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya won his fourth Boston Marathon. This 26.2 mile race is not only the longest continually run marathon in the world (112 years and counting) but the penultimate goal of every distance runner. As the Masters is to golf, so Boston is to marathoning. One of the great joys of the marathon is that it is not just the perview of the elite runners, but embraces and encourages us mere mortals to go the distance. Unlike the hallowed fairways of the Augusta National, where the 20 handicap golfer can only wax philosophically about what it would be like to hit a 5 iron to the green, in Boston, 30,000 common folk can cross the start line and run the same streets as the world class athletes. It is a celebration for any runner who sets and achieves a goal.
The marathon is certainly a metaphor for many things. Take for example our physical fitness. One of the most important lessons you can teach your family is that being active and physically fit is a lifelong journey and not simply a sprint to flame out in our youth. The epidemic of childhood obesity overtaking our country is largely one of inactivity. The average teen will spend 6 hours in a sedentary activity daily (TV, computer,etc) after school hours! Dr.Ken Cooper, the father of the aerobics movement, said, “The only cure for childhood obesity is physical activity.” We, as parents, have to teach our kids by word and deed that exercise is essential to good health both now and throughout their lives. No one starts training for a marathon by running 26 miles at the first session. You take baby steps, running 2 miles, then 3, then 4, eventually building on a foundation that propels you to distances that you couldn’t even imagine running months before. In the same way we need to teach out kids that you don’t need to be the best or fastest or strongest right out of the starting line. Initially, winning is simply beginning! Failure is simply failing to take action. And there is no better teacher than the parent, and no better tool than teaching by example. When I began training for my first marathon 10 years ago, I had never run more than 5 miles at any one time. My kids were 3 and 4 years old so part of my training was building a slow steady mileage increase over a period of several months while pushing one of the little monkeys in a jogging stroller. Granted they were not running themselves, but they were seeing daddy do it, and I would like to think this instilled in their subconscious an understanding that this was normal, healthy behavior (although today my daughters insist that I am very abnormal…for many reasons).
Running a marathon involves both the brains and the brawn. You have to be in good physical condition and have put in the hours of training, but you also have to had trained your brain to conquer the mental battle that inevitably plays out somewhere along the route. Every marathon I have run has had some point where my legs said no and if my brain had agreed, I would never had finished. To complete a marathon you have to do the physical training, create the will to want to achieve the goal, and have the discipline and determination to see it through. When it comes to the family’s wellness you also have to combine the body, mind and spirit to achieve wholeness. True health is a balance of mind, body, and spirit, not just the absence of disease. In a marathon, when my legs falter, I can pick up the slack by being mentally determined to meet my goal. When my determination wanes, my will and spirit can get me back on track. Likewise, when we face physical ailments, our mental clarity can find solutions and perseverance and when we are emotionally spent, our physical well being allows us to push through the sadness and come out on the other side.
Finally, there is only one way to finish a marathon, and that is to put one foot in front of the other until you cross the finish line. I am the first to admit that the Kenyans generally do that much faster and with much greater style than I ever dreamed of, yet the fact remains that both they and I finished by taking one step at a time. The health of you and your family is a daily call to take that one step at a time. Just as there are potholes on Boylston street in Boston, so there will be potholes along the way of your health. We can dodge some, we may land in others, but the only outcome that matters is whether we get up and continue planting those feet. We all remember the tortoise and the hare. In life, and in health, slow and steady often does win the race. The idea of live fast, die young, and leave a good looking corpse appeals only to folks who have a Paris Hilton mentality. Health for life is a marathon, and it often is the slowest of the bunch that has the most fun.