Plan the work, and then work the plan

For those who know me well, my planning habits are the stuff of both admiration and humor.  There is something wonderfully comforting about having a plan; I have a plan for everything that it is possible to plan for, and I have contingency plans for the things I can’t predict.

Training for the Boston Marathon didn’t truly feel “real” until I’d settled on a training plan. I have trained for 11 previous marathons, and every training season looks a little different. I balance running with other commitments, including family, career, friends, and community, and these aspects of my life are constantly shifting and changing. The context around the training season often influences my training plan more than the details of the race itself.

Once it’s written, my carefully typed plan is affixed to our refrigerator, and I check off workouts as I complete them. It is a constant comforting reminder, reassuring me that each run has a part to play in my race day preparations.

But Boston is notoriously unpredictable. In 2012, it was sunny and 86 degrees on race day; in 2015, it was cold and rainy. The hardest climbing on the course comes after Mile 20, the longest training distance that most runners complete during their plans. And no one can truly know how the body will react to 26.2 miles.

This is why a plan is so incredibly important. A good plan reduces the impact of variable conditions on the ultimate results. It prepares runners to mentally and physically endure when the weather is less than ideal, when the terrain is hillier than expected, and when the exhaustion of the enormity of the race is upon them.

In many ways, advancing the common good is, itself, a marathon, full of unplanned twists and turns. As much as we plan ahead, we can’t always predict the ways that our communities will change and the needs that will necessitate action. In that sea of unknowns, the future of Granite United Way needs to be one of continued financial strength and security. Building a strong endowment is a critical part of ensuring that stability.

Dedicating my race in April to Granite United Way’s endowment was a natural decision. Just as my commitment to my training plan will prepare me mentally and physically for the marathon, so too will this endowment will help our communities endure what is to come, whatever that may be.