Yesterday was the conclusion of 14 weeks of hard training with a total of 565.19 miles running – including the race. My goal was to run 26.2 miles in 3:45:00. I’ve been after this time for five years now.
Yesterday was my 18th marathon. I’ve done it before. I’ve trained before. But, this training was unlike any other. It was more mileage, more hours, and more demanding. And, it worked.
Yesterday, was hard…God, grit and grind got me through for His glory…along with some awesome praise music. I met some great people along the way. Heard a great testimony. Made some friends. Unfortunately, I had to stop to go to the bathroom. Dang it! (That’s what gets me every time. Dang it!) A lot of self talk happened – sometimes it was positive sometimes it was negative. But, in the end it got me through.
God has been with me throughout this whole journey. He gave me the desire of my heart. He knew 19 years ago that I would start running marathons. He knew this non-athlete would turn athlete and start chasing her dreams. I have now qualified for Boston three times. 3 times!!! (And New York with this run!) When at one time, while appearing on the Wheel of Fortune, I stated to Pat Sajak during my introduction -in a joking manner – that I would want to run Boston one day. Knowing that would never be a possibility. God had other plans.
My goal with this marathon was not qualify for Boston….that would just be icing on the cake. My goal was to run a 3:45:00 – Which would be a PR and a Boston qualifier. My chip time yesterday was 3:47:59 seconds for 26.59 miles. It was not the 3:45:00 but it was still a PR and a Boston qualifier. I was happy! Extremely happy!
Then this morning I decided to look at my stats on one of my running apps. After reviewing the data on the Strava app, I noticed I had earned several new achievements. When I looked at the achievements, it said I had a new marathon PR of 3:44:49. I was ecstatic. I knew my Garmin had clocked 26.59 miles. Sometimes races are off and if you don’t run the tangents, you don’t get the exact mileage. So at first I accepted it. Then, I started looking at everybody else’s data from the marathon on Strava. Everybody’s Garmin was 26.5 or more. Some were a little less so they must’ve run the tangents better than others but consistently it was a quarter-mile longer.
So with that I am claiming my sub 3:45 marathon. I trained hard. I worked for a goal. And I met it yesterday. I also qualified to run Boston and New York. #Operation345 was a success!!
I didn’t do it alone. I had amazing running friends who were with me most every step of the way. Two were going to be running the same race. One couldn’t make the trip – but she was there in spirit. #ironsharpensiron. Yoli ran a Boston qualifier too and won our age group. She’s a beast!! The rest of them were back home praying for us every step of the way. Tracking us and cheering us from a far. #thankfulandblessed
I had a great coach who knew what I wanted and gave me workouts to get me to the finish line and meet my goals. I put in the work with his direction! I didn’t miss one run. It paid off. We did it. They all believed in me!
And last but not least an amazing husband who never doubted my efforts. The time and effort it takes to go hard and dream big sometimes takes away from the ones you love the most. He never complained. He always supported me. And when I got home from race day he had a hot bath waiting.
Running Angels
Training runs….
God gave me dreams. My family taught me to go after them. They aren’t given – they are earned. There will be ups and downs but God gives you the power to push through and get back up.
March 7, 2020 will always be a day I count as a blessing. The journey leading up to it was a blessing. The parallel with life and work helped me get through to the finish line. There is more to come…
Yesterday was an amazing day!! We made it that way.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,”
Hebrews 12:1 NIV
“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
Romans 5:3-5 NIV
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.”
1 Corinthians 9:24 NIV
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