My 15-miler was going super strong! I can’t believe the confidence I am drawing from the fact that for this marathon – I am training exactly as I know I should be. I am using my head on the long runs. Planting water in the right spots. Not going out too fast or worrying about my pace. Knocking on wood again, it all seems like it is heading in the right direction. At least it seemed that way until I was about ten miles in to the run last Sunday.
I felt very happy that the sun was hiding behind the clouds for most of the run. Oh, I saw him peek out at me a couple of time on the way out to my 7.5 turn-around, but he was definitely showing me some mercy, maybe a bit too much mercy. About half way back in, it seemed like the sky was getting darker. The forecasters didn’t mention anything too eventful, but it was really getting dark.
I started to hear the distant rumblings of thunder over my Ipod. The sound kept getting louder and louder. It was at that time that the clouds started looking really strange. I was about three miles from home when I realized that I was about to run in to my first big electrical storm.
Here’s the thing about a strong summer storm while you are running: what do you do? I thought that most of my run was along wooded areas or trees – maybe they would catch the brunt of its fury! Not to be! About two miles from home, I passed a woman walking on the side of the road in front of her home. She said “those clouds really look bad!” I agreed and told her “looks like we are going to get wet”. Each moment became more and more serious. I could see the lightning increasing in intensity and getting closer. I had not prepared for this contingency. What was I going to do? Had I lived for forty-two years just to meet my maker at the hands of a bolt of lightning? I could only imagine what people would say; didn’t he know there would be a storm? He was doing what at what time in the morning? This had a lot of downside potential!
Just as I reached the top of Mt. Belleville all hell broke loose. It started to rain, the wind got very strong, and I could see lightning getting very close. Ironically, to take my mind off of the long runs, I had filled my Ipod with audio books. I was listening to Joel Osteen read his most reason book “Become a Better You!” This chapter was on the wonder of God’s creations. I wasn’t too impressed currently with his work in the severe storm department. I had to make a plan quick: I decided, as a runner, I would run really fast! After the painful decent from the Mount, I was running as if I was being chased by a pack of wild dogs. Funny thing about facing death – you feel no knee or joint pain what so ever. I kept running as the storm became more intense. I thought about laying down in a ditch or running into the woods – neither sounded to appealing. I just kept on going! Inspired by Joel, I started to pray, “Dear God, don’t let me get hit by lightning!” I also started to pray that my wife would hear the storm and come out and get me - that was a real long shot. I had about three quarters of a mile left and it had gotten really crazy. It was time to get in the ditch.
It was at that moment I saw two headlights through the driving rain. It was my wife Julie to the rescue! Doug and Coco were in the back seat telling me how they just saved my life! Coco, my soon-to-be four year old asked me “why are you running in the storm daddy?” I didn’t have a really good answer. As I put her floor mat over her seat before I sat down to absorb the sweat and rain, I closed the door and was extremely thankful. She turned the car around and we headed home through some of the most intense lightning I had ever seen – from inside or being out in it.
I felt very happy that the sun was hiding behind the clouds for most of the run. Oh, I saw him peek out at me a couple of time on the way out to my 7.5 turn-around, but he was definitely showing me some mercy, maybe a bit too much mercy. About half way back in, it seemed like the sky was getting darker. The forecasters didn’t mention anything too eventful, but it was really getting dark.
I started to hear the distant rumblings of thunder over my Ipod. The sound kept getting louder and louder. It was at that time that the clouds started looking really strange. I was about three miles from home when I realized that I was about to run in to my first big electrical storm.
Here’s the thing about a strong summer storm while you are running: what do you do? I thought that most of my run was along wooded areas or trees – maybe they would catch the brunt of its fury! Not to be! About two miles from home, I passed a woman walking on the side of the road in front of her home. She said “those clouds really look bad!” I agreed and told her “looks like we are going to get wet”. Each moment became more and more serious. I could see the lightning increasing in intensity and getting closer. I had not prepared for this contingency. What was I going to do? Had I lived for forty-two years just to meet my maker at the hands of a bolt of lightning? I could only imagine what people would say; didn’t he know there would be a storm? He was doing what at what time in the morning? This had a lot of downside potential!
Just as I reached the top of Mt. Belleville all hell broke loose. It started to rain, the wind got very strong, and I could see lightning getting very close. Ironically, to take my mind off of the long runs, I had filled my Ipod with audio books. I was listening to Joel Osteen read his most reason book “Become a Better You!” This chapter was on the wonder of God’s creations. I wasn’t too impressed currently with his work in the severe storm department. I had to make a plan quick: I decided, as a runner, I would run really fast! After the painful decent from the Mount, I was running as if I was being chased by a pack of wild dogs. Funny thing about facing death – you feel no knee or joint pain what so ever. I kept running as the storm became more intense. I thought about laying down in a ditch or running into the woods – neither sounded to appealing. I just kept on going! Inspired by Joel, I started to pray, “Dear God, don’t let me get hit by lightning!” I also started to pray that my wife would hear the storm and come out and get me - that was a real long shot. I had about three quarters of a mile left and it had gotten really crazy. It was time to get in the ditch.
It was at that moment I saw two headlights through the driving rain. It was my wife Julie to the rescue! Doug and Coco were in the back seat telling me how they just saved my life! Coco, my soon-to-be four year old asked me “why are you running in the storm daddy?” I didn’t have a really good answer. As I put her floor mat over her seat before I sat down to absorb the sweat and rain, I closed the door and was extremely thankful. She turned the car around and we headed home through some of the most intense lightning I had ever seen – from inside or being out in it.
This was one of those crazy experiences that you really don’t take any really lessons from. When I headed out the door, it didn’t look remotely at all like rain. It just came for nowhere. I guessed I dodged another bullet on my way to Chicago, one I hope to never face again.
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1 comment:
That is an awesome story!
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