Overcomer

                   

I have been listening to this song while I have been training for the marathon. It has been one of those songs that kicks my pace up a notch & I feel like I am passing everyone else in front of me during the race. Most of the time I am the only one out on the roads & just look a little silly...but its fun to pretend:)

Sunday morning my alarm clock went off at 4:45 am & the day had come that I would overcome an inner fear of mine after what happened a few years ago in Dallas. It was a beautiful fall morning in Chicago & the marathon was within my reach.

Once we crossed the starting line a rush of adrenaline overflowed & we were off. The first few miles were a blur considering the large mass of people we were maneuvering through to keep pace & suddenly we were at mile 5. As we came up to a bridge this song was blasting from a tent nearby. I remember telling Erica that we had already become overcomers but lets sing this song again at mile 25 in case we doubt ourselves too! ha!

     There were so many awesome people cheering us on throughout the whole race. We even had our own fans following us around that day! Our husbands Jeremy & Mark, plus, our friend, Amanda, were the best. Seeing familiar faces always makes you push a little harder. We were able to see them multiple times throughout the race.

 Mile 9 our friends from Lululemon were cheering us on with their awesome dance party. Mile 15-20 I checked out mentally & was just running on a high. Mile 20-23 were blah & by mile 24 we could see the end in sight! About mile 24.5 the cupid shuffle song came on & my legs got a little stronger. No, not because I just love the song but I love the little boy who use to bust out in dance at the baseball games during this song. I started dancing ridiculously like Jace. By this point in the race you really don't care what others think!  Then, another half to a mile later another "Jace song" came on & I wanted to dance & cry all at the same time. Something about thinking of your kids & showing them that they can push themselves to reach their goals is priceless. Ok, maybe I am just that emotional at that point that almost anything made me cry? Who knows. It was an emotional day!

 Anyway, mile 26 Erica reminded me that this wasn't hard. Carrying a bucket of water for 3 miles on my head down a hill in over 100 degree weather with my babies waiting on me is hard. How dare we quit now. So, we didn't. All I could think about was the women in Haiti who do anything & everything to take care of their families. I could see their faces staring at me like they did as we drove by in our tap tap. I saw the mom who joyfully washed her kids clothes in a bucket full of dirty water while singing so pretty. Needles to say, we picked up the pace & pressed on towards the finish line! Wow! What a rush!

Call me crazy but I will definitely be doing that again! :)

What is your marathon? What is something in your life that you feel you just can't beat? Decide today that you too will persevere!

My end of the year running goals:

Tulsa Run 15k

Route 66 Half Marathon

Dallas Half Marathon