Persevering Patience

More than just warmth?
(Courtesy oddnation.net)

The timelapserunner's sister ran across a neat insight recently and, as one of the handful of readers of this blog, passed it along. It seems that Timothy Gallagher in his work The Discernment of Spirits, speaks of persevering patience in the Ignatian sense: "a virtue of those undergoing trial, who do not flee it but carry the burden faithfully." Gallagher compares this to a marathon runner who "feels the fatigue of many miles already run but does not cease running until the race is fully complete." In my more reflective moments I fully appreciate that the persevering patience I exhibit while running long runs would probably fall short if taxed by the greater trials of life that I see so many others having to work through. Still, I will count it as practice not only for the upcoming race but for the rest of my life, hoping that I will remember the courage and peace afforded by this experience when called upon to exercise it amidst a more consequential trial. That said, yesterday I survived my first fifteen mile workout. Woot!


Yep, two BIG laps around the LSU Lakes, City Park and Tiger Stadium. Each about 7.5 miles in length. Actually, the first lap around looked more like 7.32 miles, so on the 2nd go I added the little quarter-mile excursion at the corner of East Lakeshore and East Lakeshore.

The whole event took some three hours and eighteen minutes plus. Saw a number of folk go by one or more times. Recognized a few faces. Lots of weekend long run folk in the crowd. A dozen dogs or more making the trip with their masters or mistresses. Runners pushing baby carriages, even double baby carriages. Tailgaters just getting started and then again more tailgaters on the 2nd lap.

I used my Amphipod water belt and brought along two Clif Gel Shots for Mile 11 and Mile 14. Had a Clif Bar before heading out. All the food stuff and water stayed where it was supposed to more or less - so the experimentation worked out OK.

At this point, I'm wondering if other marathoners-in-training start thinking about how many long runs left till race day. I know I am thinking about it. We have a 17-miler, a 20-miler, a 23-miler and a 26-miler left before the race on January 20th. Only four more long runs before the race. Not that I'm dreading them. They are giving me a great sense of accomplishment. And perhaps also building up within me the virtue of persevering patience, at least in some small way. (Thanks, Sis.)