It has been a day.
I'm still collecting my thoughts, and although so much of the day seems like a blur, there is so much good.
I really wasn't sure how today was going to go, I think you all know that. But we had the fun added extra bag of nerves that comes with a 4 year old who was throwing up most of the night. All I knew was that he kept waking up crying and James took care of him every time. I asked James during the middle of the night if he knew what his deal was and he just said no, then when I woke up, he told me the truth. So far he's the only one that has been impacted, so we're hoping it was something he ate.
I headed out the door at 6am and James drove me to the church where we were having a pre-race worship service. We were waiting in a line of cars to turn when my stomach started doing some pretty terrible things so I bailed and found the nearest porta potty.....just in time.
I got so many fantastic hugs and well wishes at the church. I even got the chance to hug and meet up with a friend from high school who was also running (and she CRUSHED it by the way - Nice job J.B....I know it is J.S. know, but you'll always be J.B. to me).
Worship was fantastic. One of my teammates delivered a fantastic message on Isaiah 40:31, it captured so much of why I felt God was calling me to run this and I was in tears, soaking it all in.
After worship we headed over to our team photo opportunity, where I also got more great hugs. After the photo it was time to drop our bags and get in line....even more hugs! Seriously, Team World Vision is a life changer for me. I don't think I've ever grown to love a group of people outside of my family more than I love all of my teammates. While we were lined up, the same teammate who delivered the amazing message stopped to pray over me, it was much appreciated and needed.
After waiting around for a while, we were off. The first 10 miles were easy and went by really quickly. After that, things progressively went down hill. Miles 11 through 19 are kind of a blur, but the spectators, they are amazing! If you ever want to restore your faith in humanity, run a marathon, or spectate a marathon, complete strangers cheer REALLY hard for you. At one point, I think it was around mile 11 or 12, I passed by a man who cheered really loud for me, and then when I got passed him, I could hear him telling the other people he was with that he was just so proud of me. I've never met this man, he knew nothing at all about me, but to hear a complete stranger say he was proud of me made me cry big giant tears.
I was so excited to see my family at mile 16, I was starting to feel pretty rough at this point, so it was a treat to see all of their smiling faces.
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| There is a great story behind this. Earlier this spring, I read the DOs and DO NOTs of running a marathon by The Oatmeal. I said I was gonna need someone to hold up a sign of Godzilla at mile 11 and my husband delivered. Go read it, you'll laugh. |
After crossing over the Franklin Bridge at mile 19, my quads started cramping really badly. I honestly didn't know if I was going to make it, but I took some of my Margarita Cliff Shot Blocks (they are a gift from God) and it seemed to help a bit, but the cramps would come back every once in a while. Miles 19 through 22 were really, really rough. At mile 22, I saw a familiar face for the 3rd time. My friend Kari asked if I was going to do this thing and I said, "I'm really not sure, my legs are cramping really bad." She encouraged me to keep going and said a bunch of other really great things that I can't even remember anymore, but it was so incredibly needed in that moment. Shortly after I passed by her, the cramps were gone and didn't return, and the song "Oceans" came on.....and I knew God was with me.
I kept looking at my watch and doing the math in my head to try to figure out if I could keep my pace going to get to the finish line in time. With each mile marker that passed, it seemed possible, but only if I pushed myself really hard, which was getting increasingly harder with each step.
When I turned the corner to start heading towards the really long hill to the finish line, I saw Bradley, the guy who leads Team World Vision - Twin Cities, running towards me. He said - "You've got this, you're going to finish this thing." I think I was too tired to really cry, but I was feeling all kinds of emotions at that moment. Shortly after he joined me, I saw Scott, my team's coach, who just got done running 26.2 miles coming to join me as well. Scott ran injured, so to have him come back and run me into the finish line filled me with overwhelming gratitude. When you run with a team, it is about so much more than you finishing the race. Both of these guys demonstrate Jesus' sacrificial love so perfectly, I'm lucky to know them.
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| Me and Scott Post Race |
Eventually, I made my way down the hill and saw my family and every so slowly made my way across the finish line. It was amazing. At least as amazing as something can be when your legs don't want to work anymore and you have blisters the size of Paris on your feet. (FYI, Thorlos, you suck!)
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| All I was looking for was to cross the finish line and not get booted off the course. Done. |
I got my medal, my snacks and made my way through the finish area to get my t-shirt and I saw some friends from the team and got some great hugs! As I was on my way back to the Team World Vision tent, I saw my friend Sinead. We got to share a quick, tearful hug after we both finished our first marathon. It was beautiful. Honestly, I think I would have thrown in the towel on this marathon thing so long ago if she wasn't encouraging me. I think she believed stronger than I did that I would finish this thing, so it was so wonderful to see her.
When I finally made it to the tent, I got even more hugs and eventually a piece of cake. I got to take some pictures with my family and compose myself before making the journey back to the car.....just a few blocks is really far.
When I got back to the car, I turned my phone on and saw that I had a text. I was speechless, shocked, in awe and just stared, crying. Someone anonymously gave $500 towards my goal, water for 10 people! If you gave this donation and you are reading this, YOU ARE A HERO, you put the icing on the cake for this day. I just hobbled along for 26.2 miles, but you and all of the other donors made crossing that finish line and all the pain I was (and still am) feeling completely worth it.
By the way - even though I'm at 100% and the race is done, you can still give! You can still be a hero and change a life.
I know that the only way I was able to complete this was with all of the prayers and love that has been poured out on me over the past few weeks. I know I'm not always great at giving it back, so please know that it was very much appreciated. For every one of you that gave me a hug this weekend and said that you were praying for me or that you could relate to my story - THANK YOU! I love you all!
Finally, HOW AWESOME IS OUR GOD!!!!
Seriously, I think about all of the ways that he has guided me over the past 2 1/2 years. I don't doubt for a second that he was preparing me for this day. There are just way to many things that connect so perfectly. Back in January 2012, I promised God that if he would help me battle my addiction to food and help me get healthy, that I would do it for His glory. Today was all God, he orchestrated every last bit of this day and I will forever be grateful. He has proved once again to be faithful, and my faith is so rock solid right now.
So much more I could say, but I'll save it for another day. Thank you all!
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