It was a cold (in the low 40s) but gorgeous morning that warmed up very nicely. There was a brilliant cloudless blue sky and an even more gorgeous blue ocean. The sight of the swelling, breaking ocean was breathtaking. This run started runners in corrals based on your estimated finishing time. I had guessed that my finish time would be around 2 hours 30 min so I started WAY after the gun went off, but that turned out to be such a blessing as it was great motivation to run past people and feel like you were gaining ground. I was astounded by the sound of 7000 people running, the falling footsteps sounded like the constant pitter patter of rain. It was awesome. The course took us through an underground tunnel and what did this group of very serious adult runners start doing...honking like cars to hear the echo! :) I felt great until about mile 7 or 8 but then we hit the turn around and that was a huge boost. I felt strained again at about 10 but from there on out your just pushing to be done. It's so cool to have your name printed on your bib and random people calling out encouragement. So thankful for random people. The last .5 miles I tried to just push it out...maybe to well as I ran past Matt and the kiddos and never saw them and they didn't see me :( That was the only downer of the morning. I was ecstatic and shaky after the finish, and so grateful to see Matt and my babies, and my sweet friend Melissa and her kiddos who came out to show support. We hung out for a while and heard the winning time of 1:03!!! Unbelievable. It was amazing to watch that guy fly past us heading back to the finish while we were still headed out to the turn around! He was amazing. What I love about runners is the support they show each other. All the runners still running were screaming for the elites running past us. So fun. It was a GREAT run and such a blessing to my heart...what's next....hopefully another half soon...and a marathon, maybe once Kensington is weened. We'll see, but for today I'm so grateful for God's grace and provision in this gift that He has given me. Not a gift that makes me first so that the world will notice, but just a gift for me that blesses my heart. And also SO thankful for a husband who lets me run and train in the wee hours of the morning, who brings 3 children out to support me, and who loves me unconditionally, and who right now is out building a boat with Kaden for AWANA. So thankful for him. :) Thanks for all the prayers, may God be praised.
PS. We didn't have time to come home and shower before church so I just went stinky! So glad God cares about what's on the inside! :)
4 comments:
You went stinky! That's so funny!! I'm glad to hear you had a great run, yea for you!
Wow, once again you amaze me! 9 minute miles for the ENTIRE run?! You're an inspiration!
We've also done the 'stinky to church' thing a few times. LOL!! We try to sit as far from people as we can. HA! Two years ago when we first ran the half marathon with our church we all made it back in time for the 3rd service. So there were 70 (??) people wearing their bright orange race shirts, stinking up the place. It was pretty funny.
Oh, one more thing. i LOVE how you described the run - felt like I was right there. There's a tunnel in Chicago that a lot of the longer races pass under... and we do the same thing. Start hootin' and hollerin' just to hear the echo. i love that Chicago isn't the only crazy city. Sure wish we had the ocean though... Enjoy it for me!
Michelle, you are such an amazing woman! We are so excited for you and pleased that you had a great time and strong finish! Love you and can't wait to see you!
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