Not gonna lie, there are a few things that I never would do, not because I physically can’t or don’t think I would survive, but mostly because I just wasn’t built like that. In no particular order:

Skydive

Eat a Rare Steak

Train for an IronMan

I don’t think it’s that deep. I’ve done a few hard things in my life. I jumped off a high dive once. I watched my kid endure a Ketamine-induced twilight state of paranoia while getting his gouged leg stitched up. I pushed two babies out of my womb in the matter of 14 minutes. I’m raising a 15 year old girl. If hard things present themself to me, I can usually rise to the occasion, but I do not seek them out.

And just for the record, I will never, ever understand Alex Honnold.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t absolutely admire those who take on hard things. It’s their grinder mentality that gets me. They know what they’re doing. They ride the helicopter into the sky, knowing their only way down is by jumping out of it. There are actual people who when asked how they like their steak, they say “rare.” OOF. As the waiter walks away, I usually look and say, “I can still go get her if you want to make that medium well.”

The IronMan people though. They can’t be stopped. They lock in at a level I’ve never known. Mornings, evenings, days, nights, weekends, they’ve got a plan, a trainer, a massuese, knee brace, KT tape, the bike, helmet, adaptive race-day outfit. They’ve got their supercharged ear buds and injuries to prove it. They are all in. And boy are they fun to cheer on.

I got to watch my friend Christina run her IronMan course via an app that told me where she was. Between the app and her husband sending pictures, I cheered and screamed (from my sofa) at her every transition. There’s nothing quite like watching someone do hard things. It always brings tears to my eyes, but it’s not necessarily just because they’re accomplishing it… it’s because I will never know what it feels like to accomplish something so big.

Are you with me?

It’s the ones who are running the race, training, and mentally preparing for it, who actually feel every moment of it–both anguish and exhilaration. The cheerer can only do so much to help get the person to the finish line. But the runner has to do the work.

In January, I posted on Facebook asking people what I should train for this year. I had a litany of parameters mostly focused on me never having to really do anything but seeing amazing results. People generously offered great ideas and I tucked a few away. While I was most certainly not going to train for an IronMan, I was open to challenging myself in new ways.

And while I had zeroed in on training for a new-to-me Hyrox competition, the end of January made it crystal clear what I would be doing. A different kind of challenge, supporting, and believing. A diagnosis for my husband rocked our world and gave us no choice for our path forward. While we didn’t choose this course, we are full of hope that the Lord is leading us toward a complete healing. Yet, like my girl finishing the IronMan, I will walk step by step alongside my husband–but only he can endure the pain of the race. Only he will know both the agony and the exhilaration of completing it.

Not sure which character you are tracking with right now. The endurer or the cheerer? Main character energy or supporting role? Are you the one who has to take on the agony of the hard thing or the one who has to help keep their eye on the prize?

Either way, both are significant roles with significant purposes. And thank you already to those who are cheering both of us on. There is something to being surrounded by hype people. The ones who tell you you can do it. Who pray for you and believe with you that this is just a challenge along the way.

It’s the little hypes and the big hypes that are needed. Like my Home Goods cashier glazing my wreath choices (well thank you, Shirley!) to our cancer-free friends who remind Chris there is another side to this story. We all serve a role in encouraging one another.

Speaking of Home Goods, yesterday when I was walking in the parking lot toward the Pearly Gates (Home Goods entrance), I saw a little white paint on the side of a car window that said, “Jesus loves you!” I teared up reading it.

I’m sure many people saw it as the car mades it rounds around town. I’m sure not everyone teared up nor even cared. But then I realized, that’s the point of the hype person for the person who needs it. The ones who don’t need it, don’t hear it. But for those of us who do, it can be the right words to help keep us going.

Week one, done.