Don't Ever Drive The Course Before You Run It!

In April of 2006 I ran in my first marathon.  A marathon is 26.2 miles and was on my bucket list.  I didn't tell many people that I was going to attempt this and Chris and I drove to Oklahoma City for the OKC Memorial Marathon.  I had trained for 4 months, but in the program in which I participated for this first marathon, my longest run was 20 miles.  This training program said that anything after 20 miles only destroyed tissue, so my first time to run 26 miles would be in a race.


We arrived in OKC to attend the Marathon Expo on Saturday.  We picked up my timing chip and race bib and listened to speakers.  The last thing we had planned was to get a map and drive the course.  We wanted to find places for Chris to drive and meet me & I wanted to get an idea of what I was about to do.  As we were getting our map, I heard a race official speaking to a group describing the race, elevation, and the layout of the course.  A runner that I was standing beside asked, "Are you running the marathon tomorrow?"  I replied that it was my first and he said he had run marathons in every state.  He then said, "Don't listen to what they are saying.  The worse thing you can ever do is drive the course and realize exactly what you are going to do."  He saw my puzzled look and he said again, "Don't ever drive the course, you will never run it!"


There are so many times I wanted to know what tomorrow holds.  Worry can consume us.  I am so glad that God does not allow us to "drive" the course.  In a marathon you literally will yourself to run to the next water station, or the next group of encouragers, or to put one foot in front of the other, or finally to reach the finish line & your family.  

Matthew 6:34

The Message (MSG)

 ³⁴"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.


Tomorrow my wife, Chris, will have surgery.  I refuse to "drive the course."  I know we will have some more challenges in the next few weeks and months.  Tonight I will not focus on any of those. I will take one day at a time.