"My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth"
Psalm 121:2
Today is Tuesday morning and I'm still a little sore. Mainly because I decided that I was too tired on Sunday afternoon to do my customary "post run" icing of my left ankle and knee. So now, I'm paying for it.
We had a beautiful weekend! My parents took the boys on Saturday afternoon and we headed downtown. (In truth, my mom was so kind to have both until later that night since dad was at the OSU football game). They had lots of great grandparent time and even got to attend a bonfire at the neighbors house with grandpa later that night!
It was our 7th anniversary weekend and we acquired a lovely hotel right in the middle of 'race central' for our time away. Hundreds of other runners and their families were staying there as well. A great sense of camaraderie! We went to the expo and picked up my racing packet, bib number, and free tech shirt- very nice!
Afterwards we headed deeper into the city to check out the view and get some dinner. Ended up at a trendy little Italian hot spot. We enjoyed our alone time together, but couldn't help talking about the kids and missing them too! Although, I think it was decided that this may not be the best place for highchairs and diaper bags! :)
After dinner we headed back to the hotel and watched Chariots of Fire and I prepped for an early a.m. race day.
Next day I awoke (besides the 16 times through the night) at around 5:15 am to eat my breakfast and get my metabolism moving. I finished getting dressed and Hubby and I headed over to the One Columbus building to meet up with my training team from the YMCA.
The race started at 8am (although I didn't officially cross the timing mat until 8 minutes after that). The race capped at just over 10,000 runners/walkers! I stuck by my two training girls the entire race and we encouraged each other to keep going, even when it got really tough!
The run was beautiful! We went through a lot of gorgeous neighborhoods filled with a harvest of color filled trees! The people along the entire marathon route were wonderful! They cheered and encouraged! The water stops were always plenty-filled and ready to serve us! The streets were filled with celebration for all of us!
I think it was around mile 11 or 12 and I was really feeling it. (Initially, when I first starting training about 12 weeks ago, I decided that I was going to use the "run/walk" approach to my marathon training. Later, I decided that my goal would be to run the entire race with absolutely no stopping.) So, at this point I'd been running for about 2 hours straight with some small hills thrown in and I was wanting to stop...my body was begging me to stop. All of a sudden I heard a lady's voice call out loudly from her porch, "Where does your help come from? Come on, where does it come from?"
A smile crept up on my face as I felt my energy increase. I wanted to scream it from the rooftops... "My help comes from the Lord, my Creator! The Maker of Heaven and earth!!!!" I began to praise the Lord in prayer as I looked up to the beautiful blue sky! What an encouragement!
I saw the finish line ahead and practically bolted to reach it. I finished with a respectable first half marathon (13.1 mile) time of 2:22. The fact that I ran for that long still amazes me.
Praise be to the Lord, to Him be the glory!
The winner of the full marathon (26.2 miles) came in just 10 minutes after me. That is very humbling. Yikes...
After the race my body revolted just a tad and decided to send me into a wee bit of shock. My husband joked that "it couldn't figure out why you were trying to kill it, so it decided to fight back".
I got to take a little visit to the medical facility, but once my vitals stabilized I was good to go!
I am excited to run it again next year! Be blessed in your day and enjoy the pictures!
My Training Team Coach & Girls Post Race
Pre-Race in that lovely lime green shirt
Pre-Race Morning w/ my Team
Sunrise on Race Day...
Oh, those jitters...we're about to start!
Here I am! Grey shorts, white top and knee brace!
Click on the link below to see the Columbus Dispatch Slide show of the race. I am in the 7th photo..so hit pause to see me and some friends from my team!
That's awesome!!! Congratulations!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWendy just ran a marathon this weekend, too. Do you read her blog, Showered with Grace?
AWESOME - Congratulations!!! Your experience sounds a lot like mine.
ReplyDeleteI love what that lady said. Our help is definitely from the Lord!
Yeah! Must feel good! That is interesting that that lady yelled that. The same thought would have came to my mind. Congratulations! (And Happy Anniversary!)
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