Ready or Not?

As most of you know, I'm training for my first marathon on September 28 in Akron, Ohio. I have been following a 16 week marathon training schedule and let me tell you some days are tough! This week is my last week of hard training then my runs get lighter leading up to the race. 

During my training, I was really excited to start the plan. Then as weeks progressed a few months into it, it became less exciting and more work. Then summer hit and the heat was brutal, disgusting, painful,exhausting-well you get the idea.

 There were days , I wanted to quit early and not finish my miles. And some days I did due to sickness. I felt like a failure on those days. But I got up the next day and kept working on my running. 

I thought, if I could endure the summer heat, just maybe it would pay off when fall came around. 

I learned to endure a 20 mile run without stopping and to press on when I was exhausted. I knew these workouts although they were not my personal best, would hopefully produce a stronger runner in the end. 

Today, I finally saw great results with my speed. (And the weather was 59 degrees!) My hard work during the summer has paid off. 

6.25 miles with an average pace of 8:30. My last mile was my fastest at 8:09. And let me tell you, it's hard to run the last mile as your fastest. But come race day, I want to finish strong. (Something James has taught me to do since I started running.)

So it got me thinking...

In life we run a spiritual race.

When a person first accepts Christ into their life, they are so excited about living the life of a Chrisitan. They are ready for a life change! No longer to live the way they did before but to live for something much Greater than themselves. No longer to walk on the broad path but the path less traveled- the straight and narrow. 

But then something happens along the way. Maybe a trial or tribulation and life gets tough. They start to look at their situation and not to God. They slowly lose the joy of their salvation and begin to cut miles out from their daily run, and spend less time in prayer and Bible study. 

But as children of God, we are called to endure the race. Finish strong. The tough days are preparing us to run even stronger in the days to come. God will be our strength when our energy left us at mile 14 on that huge hill. 

Sure there are hot and humid days that will be tough but thankfully those days don't last forever! 

(Well unless you live in Florida...) 

Fall is just around the corner and race day for me is only 25 days away. I'm ready for race day and to cross that finish line! 

How about you? Are you ready to cross the finish line? If God called you home today, would your race be a strong finish or barely crossing the finish line? 

Stay strong and finish strong in God's strength. You never know who you'll influence to join the race! 

Romans 5:3-6

"...but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. "

Hebrews 12:1-2

"... let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

My First Half Marathon!!

My motivation for running, these two handsome men. My family! 

On October 31, 2012, my life was blessed with a sweet little baby boy! I had started running in my second trimester about 1-2 miles each day. It really helped me with all the aches and pains that come along with pregnancy. I had some friends concerned about running while pregnant but my response always was "It's not like I'm preparing for a marathon!" But now I actually am preparing for a marathon!

Who would have thought that I would be training for a marathon? Not me! When Jacob was a month old, I started running again. By January, I was doing distance and signed up for a 10K (6.25 miles).  I had only been running long distance for six weeks at the time of my first race. After crossing the finish line, I couldn't imagine doing a half marathon. Double of what I just finished! No way!

After my race, I felt so accomplished that I started taking it a little too easy. I didn't have any motivation to get out and run distance. I would run, but without motivation it was hard. Then I heard someone say, "You need to always have a goal to be working towards when running." So, I signed up for a half marathon in September.
That should motivate me! But it was only February and the race was in September. Seven months away! Ahh not motivating enough! September was so far away!
I needed another goal...
In April, I set a goal to run 100 miles for the month. Which was really motivating since it was already the middle of the month. That meant, I needed to get movin'!
I hit my goal at 101 miles. Rain, snow, sleet, nothing would stop me now! Then my husband had a crazy idea! He suggested I switch from doing the half marathon to the full. What?! He crazy. Did he realize that was 26.2 miles?!

So what did I do?

I registered for my first full marathon... Yikes! Did I just do that? No turning back now. ( No refunds allowed.) Akron Marathon here I come! 

I was itching to run another race. I started looking for a half marathon to run some time in the summer that coincided with our traveling. I came up with--- nothing! Then as we were planning a completely spur of the moment family reunion to Branson, Missouri, my little eyes spotted something. (Okay my husband pointed it out.)

A half marathon only eight miles from where we would be staying!

As an added bonus, a Baptist church was putting the race on to raise money for their youth group to take a missions trip. And as a double bonus, I called to ask if they gave missionaries a discount on their race, and she graciously gave me the price for the 5K instead of the half. (Thank you, Dave Ramsey!)

*Week of the Race*

The week of the taper was upon me. My favorite week! ( Tapering is a week of rest and easy runs. It helps to rebuild muscle tissue so your body is ready to be pushed on race day.) I had run the distance of a half once and done a couple 11 mile days so I felt pretty good about the distance! I was hoping to run in 2:08 minutes.

Friday came, and I got everything ready, clothes, shoes, water pack, fig newtons and a pack of peanut butter crackers. (Crackers to settle my stomach before the race and fig newtons for energy. My stomach can't handle the GU chews or other energy packs.) I pillowed my head and hoped for a good nights sleep (pending on my son sleeping through the night.)

Off went my alarm at 5:30am, and up I went...at 6:00am!

I hopped in the shower and yes, did my makeup. James was confused why I would shower before the race and do my makeup. Pretty smelling girls run faster, it's a fact. My brother and his wife had gotten up to wish me good luck. I felt so special they would get up just for me!  (And by "up" I mean lying on the couch barely moving! But still so sweet! )
The race started at 7am at the Table Rock Lake. Everyone was starting at the same start point at the race. There was a 5K and a kids one mile fun run. I was a little skeptical of everyone starting at the same point and then running into the trail all at once but it worked out just fine.
We all lined up at the start, and the Pastor came and prayed with us.
And finally the count down started and we were off!

Ready to go! 

The kids were running with all their might! Sprinting towards the trail. And about a quarter mile in, they started panting and trying hard to catch their breath.
Hehee- cute kids.

I was working on pacing myself so I wouldn't tire out too soon and then I would be able to push myself at the end. We had to do 3 loops of 4.37 miles. At the half mile marker for the kids run I noticed I had forgotten to turn on my GPS. Oops!
On went my GPS. I thought to myself, since I won't know exactly how far I've gone that will be good to help me to keep my mind on running and not miles.

Then a little rain drop fell from the sky. It didn't take long for that little drop to be followed by a down pour of rain!  I'm running in the rain, I'm running in the rain, what a glorious feeling...
I was really energized by the rain and was ready to finish the next 12 miles in it!
Then after about five minutes, the rain completely stopped. Not a single drop. We were all completely drenched! (Guess James was right, no need to shower before the race!)

During my training, I had practiced running distance with taking a small walk break to refuel. However, at the pace I was going, I didn't want to stop too soon. I told myself I would stop at about the halfway point. But halfway turned into 8.5 miles and I forced myself to walk. My body felt like it was ready to shut down and I didn't want that, so off I went with only a thirty second break. At the turn around for the second loop, James was there with Jacob and he high fived me as I was running and cheered me on! Talk about sweet motivation! It was great to see his smiling face!

My family making it just in time to see me finish! 

My favorite part was the spirit of all the runners during the race. The other runners would cheer you on as they passed you (going the opposite direction) and say "Good job!" "Looking good!" So I decided to join in and cheer on the other runners as I passed them. Towards the end, the smile and encouraging word turned into more of a head nod and eye brow raise. We were all trying to conserve what was left of our energy! I also liked the face there were no mile markers, so mentally you could concentrate on finishing.

At ten miles, I starting to feel a little tired and thought of my twin sister. My heart hurt as I thought she was the only member of my family not going to be at the finish line. I began to pray for her and choke back tears. I decided to run that mile for her. She became my motivation at that point.

At the 11th mile, I walked for a minute and stretched along the way preparing to push myself for the last couple of miles!
Off I went!
Only two miles left to go.
As I came close to the finish line, I saw the time was at 1:59 and counting! I sprinted across the finish line in just under two hours!! And there was all of my family, standing there and cheering for me! ( I later found out they had all just pulled in minutes before I crossed. Ha! Nothing like last minute. :)

Almost...

I made it! 

Finishing Time 1:59!!! Second in my age group

I later found out I took second in my age group 25-30. And placed about 31 out of 100 runners. Oh and did I mention I did it all in a skirt?! I know you're impressed!

What about you?! How's your running going? Are you working towards any goals? Get out there and run just one mile! Build a base and work your way up! And if you're already running keep it up! Stay tuned for my next post on My Two Cents on the 5K Color Runs!

What a great looking bunch of people!
(This is my whole family minus my twin sister. Mom is on the far left, my sister, Heather next to her hubby, Chet who's holding their cute son Noah. Then James holding Jacob, My dad behind him, My brother, David next to me with his beautiful wife, Charity on my right. And their awesome kids in front. Davey (left) Gracie, Anna, & Jon! 

Running my first race!

My journey into running began when I was in the second trimester of being pregnant. Yes, I know you're not suppose to start anything new while pregnant but my doctor and midwife were okay with it. I was only running a mile at first then worked my way up to 1.5-2 miles. It felt great!! It really took all the aches and pains out of being pregnant. I had tried to run before but would always give up after a week or two of running. I tried doing too much too soon and it wore me out. As I began running while pregnant, I gradually worked my way up. I think that was the key for me. Starting small and building on that. Four weeks after giving birth, I began running again. By the end of the first week I was running four miles without stopping! I decided a race would be a fun thing to do! So I signed up for my first race- a 10K (6.2 miles) on St. Pete Beach. The week leading up to the race I was so anxious about making my time. My goal was to do it in under an hour. I had run the distance about four times, so I knew I could do it, but didn't know if I would make my time. So here is how my race went...

Morning of the Race:

Well Jacob decided he was hungry at 2am and 5am last night. He has been sleeping through the night from 9:30pm-7:30am for a whole week now! But of course the night I could use the sleep the little booger keeps waking up! I still feel pretty well rested! I rolled out of bed at 6:30am and got myself ready. I was feeling pretty anxious and decided I would eat a little oatmeal and half a banana. I thought it was light enough that I would feel fine as I was running. I usually only eat a Kashi fruit and nut bar before I run, but I thought since my race was a good two hours away I would be fine. That was a mistake... (I ended up pretty sick to my stomach after the race but at least it was after the race!) 

We pulled into the Sirata on St. Pete Beach at 8am. We had a good 45 minutes before the race. After killing time by taking photos and stretching, I made my way out onto the street with some of the other runners. Everyone else around me seemed to have a running buddy or someone they knew, so I awkwardly stood there pretending my “date” was in the bathroom. It was awkward since I wasn’t sure what to expect because it was my first race. So I did my best to act like I knew what was going on. A lot of the runners around my had on shirts from previous races- “Women’s Half Marathon; Iron Man; Meatless Runner (I think I saw her eating some grass along the way); ...etc” Some of the runners had on some serious gear for their 10K run, all decked out in name brand gear. My shirt was from Target...but it was a pretty pink color and it matched my shoes- so there! Alright so back to the race...

The weather was perfect, 60 degrees. A little chilly at first but I decided to not wear my jacket which was a good choice. I turned on my music, pulled up my Nike running app, set it for the 10K and waited for the race to begin. I made some small chat with a nice fellow next to me as we waited for the start. That was the last I ever saw him too, he was either super fast or super slow. Before I knew it the people in front of me began to run. I didn’t hear anyone signal to start but I went with the crowd! 

I ran in between some people and made my way to the side of the road. This way others could pass me and I could pass them easily. I paced myself and remembered to not go too fast at the beginning of the run. My throat was really dry as we began and I had to go potty (nerves I think haha). I thought mile one and two would feel like a cake walk and I would push myself to get through miles 3 and 4 then I would be golden for miles 5 and 6. Finally, I hit mile one and my time was 8:21, my fastest mile ever. Oops, so much for pacing myself. So I thought I had slowed down some to pace myself but by mile two my time was 8:45. Okay now to get to mile three, I can do this! And what was before me but a group of angels passing out water! I grabbed a cup and tried to drink it while still running. Bad idea. I was almost choking and decided to slow down a minute to get a sip of water down my throat. One sip successfully down, and off I went. I thanked the Lord for my water and then passed the three mile mark. At the 5K mark my time was 27:37, my fastest 5K to date also. My goal was to get to the 4 mile mark, I knew once I got there the last two miles would be great! Another water stop, so I walked for 20 seconds to drink and then off I went. I felt pretty good, my legs were going in a groove, my breathing was in a rhythm- I was going places! Running to the five mile mark, I started feeling pretty tired. 

To play a mean trick on all of us runners, we had to run past the start line an additional half a mile and turn around and come back through the finish line. (So just when you think you’re done you have another 1.21 miles to go.) It was kinda weird at the five mile mark everyone is there cheering you on like you’ve finished the race. But I tried to soak up the encouragement and use it as motivation. As I was running one way, I kept looking at all the other runners who were running the other way on their way back to the finish line.  Oh how I wanted to be on that side of the road with them! The last mile was a killer. I kept looking and searching for the turn around point but it seemed endless. Would I ever be on my way back to the finish line?!! So I decided to walk for about 30 seconds. My time was good enough that I had a little cushion to walk. I felt better when I saw some macho guy also walking for a few seconds. Okay back to running, and there it was the turn around point!! The hallelujah chorus went off in my head at that moment. Then I kept making little goal marks for myself to get to. I heard the sweetest words from my Nike running app, “You’re almost there, keep it up!” Which means only .21 miles to go! So I pushed myself to pick up the pace. I hit the 10K according to my GPS about .25 of a mile before the actual finish line. My time was 57:44, my fastest 10K to date! A little bit further to go, I can do it! I sprinted towards the finish line to victory! I did it!! A total of 6.44 miles in 59:22!! 

My accomplishments for the day: Ran my fastest mile 8:21, fastest 5K 27:37, fastest 10K 57:44- and barely broke a sweat, thanks to the nice weather! 

Me with my favorite guys! 

I came in 103 out of 272 women runners! And 6th out of 15 in my age division. Not too bad for my first race!

"My mom is fater than your mom" It was suppose to read "My mom is faster than your mom" but Jacob decided to change that. 

My favorite part was seeing my husband all proud of me at the finish line and being able to kiss my little boy! After the race though I was exhausted!! But Oh what a great day!!