Uphill and Beyond

My training for the Detroit marathon, my first, is entering a critical stage. In some ways I am feeling more confident, but in others feeling increasingly nervous. My body seems to be getting stronger, and also more fragile. Frankly, it is hard to explain what I am feeling.

Sending out messages to hundreds of friends saying that I was running the marathon, and having the Grameen Foundation staff make up a humorous fund-raising webpage on this project, made it all more real for me. Buying the tickets for my wife Emily and me to travel to Detroit, and booking a hotel room, also drove home the reality of this project. The rallying of people making donations, and even some family and friends who have surprised me by saying they intend to come to Detroit, has served as wind at my back. I’ll need it.

I have reflected recently on the similarities between how I am stretching myself to train for a marathon, and how micro-loan clients as well as front-line staff do the very same thing to reduce poverty. They also experience doubts and discomfort, as well as the joys associated with achieving milestones beyond what they have ever done previously. (I was elated when I completed a 16-mile training run – my longest ever – and immediately thought of a borrower I knew in Bangladesh make the last payment on her first micro-loan.) The moral and material support they need, and often receive, in the microfinance context seems very analogous to what I am experiencing.

There’s already been a huge outpouring of support for my race, and I can’t tell you how much it means to me. We still have a long way to go though, so help me out by spreading the word to your family and friends. Your support is what keeps me going on those uphill training runs!