It was end of November 2015 when I walked into the office for one of my half days and Adam Shearer was pitching the idea of getting a group of Bellhops employees to run in the Chattanooga Half Marathon. I said I was in! I had no idea I would be embarking on a journey that God would use to inspire so many people. He is always one step ahead of us. It is almost funny when I look back at my life and you can just see God’s fingerprints all over it. If I hadn’t walked in at that exact second, I may have not even started running.
About a year ago today (December 2, 2015), I posted my first Strava entry. For those who don’t know about Strava, it tracks all the data on your runs—elevation gain, time spent running, mileage, etc. (you can also use if for bikes, but I don’t bike). Here it was:
3 miles at an 8:39/mi pace and I’m sure my heart was about to explode. If I remember correctly, I think I even had to stop a couple times just to rest.
This past year, here are the numbers, Moneyball style:
Distance: 1,286 miles
Runs: 216
Elevation Gain: 141,325 feet (that is equivalent to running up and down about Mt. Everest 4.75 times)
Time Spent Running: 190h 21min
Races: 8k, 10k, 15k, 10.2 miler, 2 half marathons, 2 50ks, and an attempted 50 miler.
I wish I had some storybook ending to my first year of running. A run through the Marin Headlands and Muir Woods would have been the perfect ending to a great year of running. If it went MY way, I would have come back with a finisher’s medal and stories to tell about the ups and downs of my first 50 miler… but God had a different plan. I had two partial seizures at miles 13 and 18.
I felt great until I had the first partial seizure. Then I gave a runner (later identified as Erik Wilde) my RoadID (thanks Leigh!) because my head and eyes were twitching and I couldn't talk and pulled out my medicine bag and pointed to the two meds that I take when I have a seizure. He told me I didn't look so good and I should probably sit down. I pointed that I was going to keep running and made it another 6 miles before the cardiac aid station before it happened again. At this point, I was out of meds and decided I didn’t want to have a full on grand mal in the middle of the woods where it would have been a bad situation. So I decided the best thing for me to do was to drop.
Not finishing a race (DNFing) is a very humbling experience. Your pride is shot. I truly think things happen for a reason, and our pastor, Scott Bowen, in a sermon about a month ago, spoke about replacing one idol for another. I didn’t realize it, but I was replacing my workaholic mentality with running. Running was becoming who I was. I wasn’t running because I just enjoyed it anymore (well i still enjoy it). I was running because it defined who I was becoming. I was “the guy from Bellhops who was a ultra marathon runner”.
There is nothing wrong with doing your best and trying to improve upon a time, but I have to remember to keep my priorities in the correct order, and running was creeping up there. I need to get back to being grateful to be able to run and not forget God has given me a gift by allowing me to run.
I really want to thank Bellhops for allowing me to do what I love. The majority of these miles were logged when I should have been at work, but they have been so flexible with me. They have been so amazing to our family, I can’t even begin to explain. I know I always say that, but it is the truth. I also want to thank my incredible wife, Liz, because I know I made her nervous for every minute of those 190 hours and 21 minutes when I was running and for taking care of Jack when I am out on the trails.
Thank you to Erik for being a literal angel on the trail, and thank you for all who continue to pray for me and my family. Continue praying for us as we go in for an MRI on December 13th. Please pray that these partial seizures are a good thing, and are due to inflammation from the tumor breaking apart.
Here are some pics from the trip and one of me and my trail angel, Erik!
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| Erik and I after my first partial seizure |
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| Pre-seizure. When I was feeling good and moving! |
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| Liz and I off highway 1! |
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| Mom, Hannah, and me at the Golden Gate Bridge! |
Much Love,
Nathan
Continuing to pray for you, Nathan! Keep the faith, young man! Thanks for being such a great example to many! Well done, good & faithful servant!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nathan. I've enjoyed reading your posts after my daughter Tesi (knows you from Get Built) pointed me to them. Your experiences and musings--cancer, running, "limping" in life--reminded me of something I wrote during a cross-country bike trip a few years ago: "I do not remember ever seeing my father tear up or cry but I heard that he would occasionally do so during the period of his chemotheraphy, weeping for joy as well as for negative emotions. Today was the second time on the trip that I wept, overwhelmed by the beauty of the surroundings and the sense of its harmony with what the human is meant to be and the divine is. And in reflecting on these Moments, I saw this trip as a treatment for the cancer that has been eating away at my mind and spirit for who knows how long. A cancer that cannot be totally eradicated but can at least be checked if not--please, God--sent into remission. I have not had a thorough exam: I will go only so far in responding to the questions and suggestions of the sacred and profane saints. So I do not know the extent of the damage of moral organs and psychological networks and even on this most beautiful of days am seized by memories and visions of decay. But this treatment of the past several weeks, this exposure to the radiation of the divine expressed in the environment and in persons, has at least allowed me to appreciate another day in the eternal day of health and life and to thank God for it. "
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