#teamlewis2018miles

I wore literal holes in my shoes.  And my feet have ached deeply since about October. I actually kind of love that because it makes one thing very evident…

If it had just been up to me and my own two feet, I’d never have made it to the finish line.

What began at the stroke of midnight to kick-off 2018 wasn’t ever about my own two feet.

It was about making a memory with my biggest little love.It was about grabbing a brother in the pouring rain and saying “Let’s go”

It was about uniting with a sister who has only recently become one and pushing each other to go a little farther, be a little faster, get a little stronger.

It was about setting and celebrating stepping-stone goals, small ones that marked the way, as you kept your eyes on the ultimate one that sometimes seemed so far away.

It was about remembering that running can go anywhere.

Whether in a theme park, late at night, to get from one ride to another….

or in a national park with God’s creation reminding us of our small role in a bigger world.

And then, when life took an unexpected turn, running became a really important bridge.

From our old home

to our new one.

Completing 1009 miles on one continent.

And finishing the second 1009 on another.

Sometimes team-members ran alone

sometimes with grandparents, babysitters or friends,

Sometimes early morning sprints with the best accountability

and other times even with a hundred classmates.

One amazing weekend I ran 40 miles with a very best running buddy (and several incredible “support” runners) to celebrate our 40th birthdays.

But the best runs were when we were adventuring together…

In the rain

On the beach of Zanzibar

and in a tea farm in Nairobi.

 

I have tons of pictures from this year of a little line of warrior kids stretched out in front of me and/or RRL, pounding the pavement for another mile.  I can’t make the photos come alive for you, but in my mind’s eye I can hear and smell and feel so much.  I hear them shouting encouragement to each other, I can hear the whispers in the mornings going out to run before it got too hot. I can hear the voice that said, while running beside me, “I remember the first time you made me set a goal and how mad it made me.  But now I think it is one of the best things about our team.”

When I look at these pictures, I can feel the sweat pouring down, my feet throbbing and heart about to explode with pride in this little tribe’s ability to overcome.  The memories have not all been pleasant (have you ever run in the middle of a tropical summer near the equator? with a 6-year-old? or a looonng story-teller? or a hypochondriac?), but as I scroll through all of our running adventures from this year, I’m overhwhelmed with the goodness of God. That He would know what a treasure these moments would be, when reflecting on this year.

In a year during which we could have easily only focused on the upheaval and uprooting of my family, we have picture after picture of working toward something familiar and consistent and unifying.

As October began there was a faint glimer of an end in sight.  Even after running very little in May-July, as we prepared to leave the country, we still might just be able to make it.  If we worked together and ran a whole heck-of-a-lot in November and December. Which is precisely what we did.  Nearly 520 miles in those two months.  1/4 of the total in just 1/6 of the year.

Even with 9 of us running, that’s a lot- like nearly 58 miles each over 2 months including holidays, sicknesses and a dislocated toe.  A lot of math to simply emphasize what these small people did.

They put their minds on the goal.  And went for it.

And that’s why we ran this year.  Long before we knew just how much we’d need it…we ran to be reminded.  Reminded of who we are TOGETHER.

Because it isn’t true what they say about team work…we are not only as strong as our weakest member.  The sum of us is not equal to the total of 9 individuals.  Even when different team members carry different shares of weight, the sum of us is stronger, braver, more confident, more capable than any of us could be alone.

This year we set out to remember: We are a TEAM.  Running together. On a mission.

We ran a 1/2 mile each to make it to the finish line on New Year’s Eve, a short jog compared to some of the month’s 2-3 mile endeavors.  As we huddled up to pray at the finish line, our babiest boy, a 6 year-old who logged a lot of running this year, said “Dear God, THANK YOU for the energy and effort you gave us to complete this goal.”

Thank you, indeed.

And thanks to all of you, too, for following along on our 2018 journey.  What a crazy distance run it has been!

ABL

 

For anyone interested in the specifics: 

Our family of 9 ran 2018 collective miles this year, beginning just after midnight (central time) on January 1, 2018 and ending around 3pm (East Africa Time) December 31, 2018. Each person on the team ran miles which counted individually toward the goal. So each tally on the chart represented one person’s one mile.  (When we all ran one mile together = 9 team miles).  We kept the chart in our kitchen, both in the US and in TZ.  Each box on the chart was 10 miles, each row 100.  We each marked in a different color, but not to keep track of who ran what, just to have a visual of the sum of the parts.  Each time we finished a box of 10 we highlighted it in a single color to represent the team accomplishment.  We set small goals through the year to celebrate (monthly goals and a goal before we left the States). and we changed the highlighter color everytime we passed a small marker goal.  We had many supporters who ran some miles with us through the year, but we only counted the ground the 9 of us covered.  We “counted” a few miles that were not technically running- usually difficult hikes- but almost all were running.  We all agreed to the goal, but some people definitely were more committed to it than others through the year.  It was a good parenting exercise to learn a little bit about what motivates each of my children- shockingly, they are each different.  We ran with kids so I cannot emphasize enough that this was not all rosey and delightful, but I can also honestly say it was worth it and I’ve been very sad that it is over.  We’ve decided not to do 2019 miles and each of us have run precisely zero steps in the 6 days following the 2018 finish line. Maybe we will do it again another year, but for lots of reasons need a rest for now.  We’ve decided instead to do smaller goals we set each month. I’d love to share more if you are interested in doing something similar with your family and we’d love to hear about your team goals, too!