Melinda and I have a goal. The goal is simple – just finish. That’s it. Just finish. The more I say it, the more I believe we can do it. Just finish.
What am I talking about? Mike Hyatt (the president of Thomas Nelson) issued a challenge to the company for a second year in a row. That challenge was to participate in the Country Music Half Marathon. While there will be some internal competition to be the fastest, the challenge was simple – participate and finish. Do so, and the company will reimburse your entry fee, give you a t-shirt, and a $100 gift card. Mike even extended the invitation to spouses (we have to share the gift card) as well as Nelson’s current authors, and agents.
As anyone who has seen us recently knows, Melinda and I aren’t in the best shape. Choosing to participate in an event as big a as a half marathon this late in the game, plus being out of shape, means there is really no way we could compete in the event. So, Melinda and I decided to walk to half marathon and set a goal to just finish. 13.1 miles in under four hours. We don’t need to be first, we don’t care if we are last. We just want to finish.
Official training starts on January 21st. We have already begun some initial steps, like drinking only water, walking, and other forms of exercise. Once the 21st gets here, we will have to keep a strict schedule of training in order to be even close to ready.
The Marathon is on April 26th, here in Nashville. We’ll keep you posted on training and progress. In the meantime, please pray for us! We are excited to have a goal to work toward, rather then an abstract “let’s get into shape”. It’s also great to have a team of people to work with to help with encouragement and accountability.