Neither Marjorie nor I have ever won an athletic trophy. But on our kitchen wall, there’s a collection of over 30 medals — finisher medals from dozens of half marathons we’ve walked in. We didn’t set any speed records, but, from the Virgin Islands to New Hampshire to Wyoming, every one we participated in we finished. I say this not because it’s such a difficult achievement but rather the opposite — almost anyone, with the right training, could walk a complete half marathon. Without the training? Not so much.

I suppose there are some people who are consistently in such good shape that they could go out and do a half marathon tomorrow with no training. Not us. Or at the very least, if we did manage to finish, we’d be sore and miserable and the whole thing would have been an unpleasant experience. All it takes is a little training to make the whole enterprise a pleasure, and the training needed isn’t so complicated or difficult. We try to walk over a mile each day —
to the top of the hill in our neighborhood and back. Once a week, we walk at least 5 miles. When a half-marathon approaches, we add a mile a week to our longer walk — 6 then 7 then 8, until we get to 12 miles the week before. That way, the half-marathon is just 1.1 miles more, and race-day adrenaline is more than enough to take us through that final stretch.

Why do I bring this up? Because in under a month, we will all be taking part in two holy half marathons — Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Many — perhaps most — people “run” these
half marathons with no “training.” Far too often, the overall experience isn’t too dissimilar from running a physical half-marathon without training — not terribly pleasant. This leads people to stay away from the synagogue all year until the next holy half-marathon season, where they repeat that experience.

There is a better way! Here is my four-part “training regimen,” followed by four recommendations for pacing yourself during the holy half marathons.

Training:

Attend a Friday night service (or two or more) — How long does a typical Friday night service last? About an hour, including a Torah discussion or lesson. It’s a great break from a hectic week, from depressing news, from job stress. There aren’t so many people, and you can actually get to know them during the oneg Shabbat after the service.
Can’t attend in person? Most of our past Friday night services are on YouTube. Not the same as being there, but you can get the picture (literally). Sing along if you want — no one will object! And no one will know if you take breaks or decide you’ve had enough for the time being.
Try out a chanting circle. Do you find the sheer number of words on the holy half marathon days
a problem? Friday night services have far fewer words — but our chanting circle has far fewer
still. We learn six chants, usually with 5-10 words each. The whole thing has under 60 words!
And it’s also a great opportunity to find some calm and healing.
try out an adult ed class! Too late for this year, but I usually run about 3 courses over the year,
in addition on one-shot programs. Plus, I’m always happy to take suggestions; let me know
what you’re curious about — the afterlife, the concept of the messiah, the reasons behind
Jewish symbols or holidays, Jewish science fiction, you name it! I’ll find a way to teach it.

Pacing:

Take a break! Page through random parts of the prayerbook and read what we’ve skipped over — there are lots of beautiful and intriguing readings we never get to. To be honest, that’s what I used to do as a teenager on the high holy days. Or take a physical break — get up, get outside, walk around a bit. Take advantage of the beautiful setting of Temple Hesed! Come with a question or intention: with services, as with much of life, our take-away tends to be proportional to what we put in. So plan ahead with a question or intention: what do you want to examine about yourself? How do you want to be different in the coming year? What strikes you as curious, maybe even worth investigating more
Bring support — one of the great things about half marathons is that most people aren’tcompeting against you; they’re competing against themselves and cheering you on. Having lots of people pulling for you makes pretty much everything easier and more enjoyable. So come with someone. Talk about what you expect on the drive to Temple, discuss what you felt, liked, didn’t like afterward.

Be on the lookout for fleeting moments of beauty. During the half-marathon on St. Croix, we saw a partial rainbow in the middle of a crowd. At the Two Rivers half marathon near Hawley, we saw a pair of immature bald eagles trying out their wings. There are many wonderful aspects to the Scranton Half — bands playing in different neighborhoods, people with clever signs, a bagpiper. A few years ago, they began having the walkers start an hour before the runners. By the time the runners catch up to us, six or so miles in, the leaders have broken away. One year, the leader was a runner from Ethiopia. He was amazingly graceful — it looked like he was floating by. Notice if this year, a particular melody or reading or message, or even a particular window or shaft of light, or someone seated near you, perhaps just for a moment, strikes you in a way you won’t easily forget. But you can’t find those moments unless you pay attention.

I hope these suggestions will make your holy half marathons both more meaningful and more enjoyable this year! And maybe for next year, we should come up with some finisher medals of our own!