M4M Day 2–Reality Setting In

Newark (0ft) to Dubai (0ft) to Kathmandu (4,953ft)

#Miles4Missions Itinerary

Day1 (May 12th)–Bixby to Kansas City to Newark
Day2 (May 13th)–Newark to Dubai to Kathmandu 
Day3 (May 14th)–Kathmandu
Day4 (May 15th)—Kathmandu to Lukla to Phakding
Day5 (May 16th)–Phakding to Namche Bazaar
Day6 (May 17th)–Namche Bazaar
Day7 (May 18th)–Namche Bazaar to Dole
Day8 (May 19th)–Dole to Machermo
Day9 (May 20th)–Machermo to Gokyo Ri to Gokyo
Day10 (May 21st)–Gokyo to Namche Bazaar
Day11 (May 22nd)—Namche Bazaar
Day12 (May 23rd)—Namche Bazaar
Day13 (May 24th)—Namche Bazaar to Tengboche
Day14 (May 25th)—Tengboche to Thukla
Day15 (May 26th)—Thukla to Gorekshep
Day16 (May 27th)—Gorekshep to Kala Patthar to Everest Base Camp
Day17 (May 28th)—Everest Base Camp
Day18 (May 29th)—***RACE DAY***Everest Base Camp to Namche Bazaar
Day19 (May 30th)—Namche Bazaar
Day20 (May 31st)—Namche Bazaar to Lukla
Day21 (June 1st)—Lukla to Kathmandu
Day22 (June 2nd)—Kathmandu to Dubai to Newark
Day23 (June 3rd)—Newark to Kansas City to Bixby

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Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the LORD will work for us, for nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few.”
-1 Samuel 14:6

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I am officially more than 24 hours into my journey and I have had kind of a lot of time to just sit and think during the travel. Sometimes my thoughts are my friends—other times not. Somewhere over the Atlantic I queued up a movie called “The Iceman” about a young guy from Denmark who decided he would take on a full distance triathlon in the frigid cold and snows of Antarctica. I muttered to myself…”I’m sure he gets it done or they wouldn’t make a documentary, but what an idiot…who in their right mind takes on an Ironman in one of the most unforgiving environment in the world?”

I was probably 45 minutes into the two hour Iceman documentary before it hit me—“You are literally on your way to Nepal to attempt the World’s highest marathon you moron!”

In the quiet moments of this last flight, I contemplated the whole endeavor. Don’t get me wrong…if you were planning to run the world’s highest marathon you should have experience at high altitude, which I have…you should have at least some experience as a marathoner, which I do…and you should be crazy enough that even the people that love you occasionally worry about your sanity—I’m 3 for 3. Still, I had some thoughts today that I don’t love writing about. I thought about mile 20 during the NYC marathon last year and how I wondered how, even if I walked it out, that I could find the finish line. I thought about the Tucson marathons last December where I started on goal pace, but finished again with my tail between my legs. To date, I have completed 6 full marathons and something north of 100 half marathons, which is a pretty significant accomplishment, but precisely zero have been on trail and none started north of 6,000ft, much less 17,555ft. This will easily be the toughest physical endeavor that I have taken on to date…Ironman included.

I have had a good season of training, but nothing really prepares you for this kind of endeavor. You won’t know if you are truly ready until the day of the race and even then, you hit the start line knowing that this kind of finish line isn’t achieved without a healthy dose of suffering. I think I am ready. I have no illusions about what awaits, but then again…I guess we will find out for sure on May 29th.

Why then? Why, if suffering is guaranteed, do you take on such an ambitious project? The truth. The unvarnished truth—“it just may be that the Lord will work for us.”

The toughest single burden for me to carry over these last two decades has not been long bike rides, though everyone should really get the chance to experience their hands, feet, and nether regions going completely numb because too much time in the saddle. It has not been the grueling 15+ hour days on trail in the mountains, though I hold each of these days so close to my heart. No…it has been the burden to help our global missionary partners.

The work they do and the sacrifices they make…they are irreplaceable. So here I am. Away from my family for far longer than I’d prefer. Journeying alone for far longer distances than are wise. Why? Because I believe it just may be that the Lord will work for us.

We’ve already raised a crazy amount of money by our standards, but in many ways we are just getting started. Have you made your investment into the #miles4missions project yet? If not, you should probably get that done right now.

Next stop…Kathmandu, where I will check in for the race, replace a few gear items that conveniently decided today was the day to stop working (stupid frustrating), and get some much needed rest. The real journey begins in earnest the day after tomorrow.