For all of you who are wondering, yes I did finish my marathon today and I ran the entire way. It was by no means easy mentally or physically, but God definitely blessed me with some awesome friends to help me along the way.
I hit the proverbial wall mad early, at approximately mile 12.5, which was really frustrating. The course was a loop, which meant that all of the hills that demoralized me on lap 1 were going to be that much more of a struggle on lap 2. Apparently I was turning green halfway through, but I regained my color after taking one of my accel-gels. All along the root I was trying to keep scripture in my head like
Joshua 1:9, Philippians 4:13, Isaiah 40:31, and
1 Peter 5:7, all in an attempt to motivate myself and trust that God was there and supporting me. To be honest, I was on the verge of a panic attack and giving up around mile 16, which is where my mom jogged a portion with me. This helped slightly, but my hips were killing me, along with my quads, and I just couldn't imagine pushing through another 9 miles. What happened next was definitely a blessing from God. My friend Chrissy, who runs on and off recreationally, but never for long distances, ran with me from mile 17 until mile 25...in jeans. I was so utterly thankful because I was on the verge of throwing in the towel and her running with me gave me the motivation I needed to keep moving. She held my hand when I was really hurting and was a constant source of motivation. We actually got numerous comments from the crowd due to her shirt for "Team Kayla" that contained scripture and the fact that she was wearing jeans. I was most amazed by the fact that she ran 8 miles, which is the farthest she has ever run in my knowledge. That was truly God at work to watch over me in the physical realm while He watched over me in the spiritual realm. What was also a blessing was my roommate running the last obnoxiously steep hill from mile 25-25.5; I was extremely thankful for someone willing to gut that out with me. I finished in an unofficial time of 4hr and 36min. I was just hoping to finish, so I'm not at all concerned with the fact that my time was quite distant from my original goal. I am thoroughly blessed with some awesome friends, but I must go soak in an ice bath so that I am able to walk to class in the morning.
For all of you who are wondering, yes I did finish my marathon today and I ran the entire way. It was by no means easy mentally or physically, but God definitely blessed me with some awesome friends to help me along the way.
I hit the proverbial wall mad early, at approximately mile 12.5, which was really frustrating. The course was a loop, which meant that all of the hills that demoralized me on lap 1 were going to be that much more of a struggle on lap 2. Apparently I was turning green halfway through, but I regained my color after taking one of my accel-gels. All along the root I was trying to keep scripture in my head like Joshua 1:9, Philippians 4:13, Isaiah 40:31, and 1 Peter 5:7, all in an attempt to motivate myself and trust that God was there and supporting me. To be honest, I was on the verge of a panic attack and giving up around mile 16, which is where my mom jogged a portion with me. This helped slightly, but my hips were killing me, along with my quads, and I just couldn't imagine pushing through another 9 miles. What happened next was definitely a blessing from God. My friend Chrissy, who runs on and off recreationally, but never for long distances, ran with me from mile 17 until mile 25...in jeans. I was so utterly thankful because I was on the verge of throwing in the towel and her running with me gave me the motivation I needed to keep moving. She held my hand when I was really hurting and was a constant source of motivation. We actually got numerous comments from the crowd due to her shirt for "Team Kayla" that contained scripture and the fact that she was wearing jeans. I was most amazed by the fact that she ran 8 miles, which is the farthest she has ever run in my knowledge. That was truly God at work to watch over me in the physical realm while He watched over me in the spiritual realm. What was also a blessing was my roommate running the last obnoxiously steep hill from mile 25-25.5; I was extremely thankful for someone willing to gut that out with me. I finished in an unofficial time of 4hr and 36min. I was just hoping to finish, so I'm not at all concerned with the fact that my time was quite distant from my original goal. I am thoroughly blessed with some awesome friends, but I must go soak in an ice bath so that I am able to walk to class in the morning.
This is awesome, Kayla. What an awesome picture of the body of Christ and the way that we spur one another on in our "race"! Congratulations to you! Heb.12:1-3; 10:23-25 Now REST those legs!
ReplyDeleteSeriously man, that was 100% God. I told this to your mom too, but my side didn't bother me one bit the whole time, and while I was dead in a certain sense I never felt all that tired or in any pain considering my history of bad hips (or the sucky jeans chafing). And you're right, I've never run more than maybe 5 miles at a time...and certainly no time recently. He completely carried me so I could be there to lift you up and it was incredible. What an amazing thing that happened. I'm seriously in awe of watching God work like this in our lives. I'm so glad I could be a part of it. I love you man and I'm soooo proud of you!
ReplyDeleteI really like those verses from Hebrews, Heather. They are very inspiring and I'm currently resting my legs =)
ReplyDeleteI think I overheard you telling my mom about your side and hips and that's just amazing. I'm very excited that God is doing so much for us and that we can help each other when we face difficult circumstance. Love you too!