I can't think of a better
reason to set a huge goal for yourself.
I've always been motivated to prove myself and others wrong. I enjoy pushing myself to do things
that I never thought were possible once I can get over the voice in my
head telling me that I can't. I
like to show that voice that it doesn't know what it is talking about,
and I think deep down, we all do.
If you are in relatively
good health, I think you have what it takes to run a marathon, you just
don't think you do. Why not prove
that little voice in your head wrong?
It is no secret that I love the community of runners in general, the love I have for my fellow
Team World Vision runners is even greater. You will meet other people running on
this team that you wouldn't have met otherwise, and you will push each
other towards greatness. Training
for a marathon is hard, but you don't have to do it alone. I can't tell you how much running with
my teammates pushed me to run harder, faster and longer than I would have
run if I were training on my own.
You'll be inspired by other people who have jumped in an decided
to run a marathon. People who also
though they couldn’t do it, but were willing to give it a shot. You'll laugh together, cry together,
rejoice together and pray together.
You'll be excited for every single one of your teammates that
crosses that finish line, it is the thrill of finishing a marathon
multiplied…and trust me, that is a great feeling to multiply.
I'm going to be honest with
you and say that training for a marathon was the hardest and best thing
I've ever done. I was pushed so
far out of my comfort zone. I
really didn't think I had what it took to finish a marathon. I had nothing to trust in other than
God's goodness and perfect plan for my life. I trusted that this was something he
wanted me to do, and I had to constantly remind myself of that. What I realize now is that I am the
best version of myself when I'm forced to lean on God. I loved the person I became during the
last month of training. I found
weaknesses in my life and in my running that needed to be
strengthened. I learned that pride
was a big blind spot in my life and I needed to swallow it to become a
better runner, and I did. I
learned that I needed to rely more on others to cover me in prayer and
offer encouragement as opposed to always going at it alone. All of the things I learned helped me
grow. I watched others grow right
along with me. It is a beautiful
thing to witness growth in others that you love.
I'm a bit cynical, I don't
always believe that people want others to succeed in our "me, me,
me" culture, but running the marathon changed that. I was overwhelmed by the massive
amounts of spectators cheering along the course. I heard people tell me they were proud
of me as I ran, people I'd never met before and would likely never see
again, it was unreal. You don't
know how much random people cheering for you means until you are 25 miles
into a race feeling like garbage and a "You go girl, you've got
this" from a St. Paul Police Officer gives you the confidence to
finish. People are beautiful, and
they want you to succeed when you push yourself to do something great.
Perhaps one of the greatest
things about running with Team World Vision is that you get to be an
advocate for people who have far less than we do. You get to tell the world that there
are people, just like me and you, who are doing their very best to
survive without the basic necessity of clean water. Without clean water, everything else in
life becomes nearly impossible, but you get to speak boldly about this
injustice because you're taking strides, literally, to put an end to
it. You get to ask anyone and
everyone you know if they'd be willing to join you in the fight. You get to witness people who you
didn't think would be willing to give, give and give generously. You get to see people's eyes
opened. You get to rejoice every
time one more person gets access to clean water. You get to change lives simply by
putting yourself through some temporary discomfort.
Our team had a constant
prayer last year, that God would make it evident that He was at work in
us. He answered that prayer so
many times during the course of the season and every time, I was reminded
just how much he loves us when I was at a point in my life where I
desperately frequent reminders of that love. When you pray boldly, you get to see
God do things you never thought were possible, and that is pretty darn
exciting.
The minute I realized that I
was going to cross the finish line, I was flooded with a mix of
emotions. I still don't have words
to describe some of them, but here are a few: joy, pride, gratitude,
exhaustion, elation - you will want to burst.
Once you cross that finish
line, you are a marathoner, and you always will be. On difficult days, you can remind yourself of what you once did and look
back and smile. On hard training
runs afterwards, you can remind yourself that you once moved your body
for 26.2 miles, you can push through 4.
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