The Bluegrass Half Marathon

Recently, a client shared an experience they had when things did not turn out as planned or desired. Rather than being with what was happening and making any changes necessary in the moment, they stewed over what went wrong.

Starr, how do you handle it when things doesn't work out as you planned?

This reminded me of when a friend, Cathy Wagner and I ran?The Bluegrass Half Marathon, in Lexington, Kentucky, prior to Covid.?

On race day we both were dealing with physical challenges. We discussed what to do and both agreed that if we had to walk it all it would still be worth it.??

Here we are at the starting line… all set and ready to give it our best shot.

We were doing a great run/walk, staying on pace so we would make it to the end before being timed out.?Each having to remind the other to let go of the ego…wanting to do more than our bodies would allow and to truly be present in the moment.

Why is it so hard to be with what is rather than what you want it to be?!?

Then the unexpected happened…

We rounded the corner to mile 4 only to discover mayhem. Apparently, the “main road” we were to run on is a state road and had to be re-opened to traffic at a specific time. (The race began 10 minutes late due to an accident on the course. Then, since Cathy and I had decided to do a combination of running and walking, we moved closer to the back, so we actually started a full 18 minutes late.)

We were redirected to do a 7-mile race, running the full half marathon was no longer an option for us. To say people were angry is an understatement.

How do you handle your disappointment?

You have a BIG dream.?You have busted your butt to make it happen.?Overcome obstacles – both internal and external…and at no fault of your own you are turned away.

I was disappointed to be sure. However, I was grateful Cathy and I shared the same POV. Yelling and pitching a fit would not have changed the circumstances or the outcome, so we might as well get on with it and have some fun.

We took off with a great attitude and were rewarded for it at the next water station.?(Two miles from the end of the race.) Much to our surprise they were passing out beer rather than water.?Reminding all of us that we had done a great job, were in the final leg of the journey, and to have fun.

(In case you thought I was making it up, look at the image up top with our cups of beer.)

We finished strong knocking a minute off each of our last two miles.

We celebrated overcoming any obstacles that came our way…even those that were outside of our control.

Then, one of my favorite quotes by Thomas Crum popped into my mind from his book, The Magic of Conflict.

“The daily conflicts and struggles are still there. It is our relationship to them that can be different.

Instead of seeing the rug being pulled out from under us, we can learn to dance on a shifting carpet."

I hope you choose to dance the next time you are faced with the unexpected or disappointment.

It’s about time to run another race; any of you want to join me for the next big adventure??

??QUOTE?OF THE DAY??

“The daily conflicts and struggles are still there.

It is our relationship to them that can be different.

Instead of seeing the rug being pulled out from under us,

we can learn to dance on a shifting carpet.

The stumbling blocks of the past?

magically become the stepping stones to the future.

The walls and boundaries of old?

offer interesting vistas as we move beyond them.”

Thomas Crum

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