My First Marathon!

Hebrews 12:1
"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."

Philippians 4:13
"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."

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This weekend I ran my first marathon! And I absolutely could not have done it without God. My entire marathon training has been a lesson in God's will versus my own, and how to live my life and use my talents in a way to bring Him glory.

I started following a marathon training plan over the summer, with the (vain) hopes of blasting out a really fast race. Things appeared to be going well, but I found myself spending more of my solo running time focusing on myself and how fast I was going to run the race -- instead of spending that solo time praying and talking with God as I usually do. I also spent less of my time on Bible study and more time thinking and planning that week's runs. Tsk, tsk! But, as we Christians know, if God wants to teach you something, He'll find a way to do it. ;-)

Around the middle of December, I had finally gotten my weekly running mileage up to 48 miles per week. I ran an 8 mile pace run on Saturday, and a 17.5 mile long run the following Sunday. I was feeling pretty strong and sure of myself. Proverbs 16:18, anyone? :-) The following week, I was out for an easy 10 mile run and noticed that my left quad muscle felt weird. I didn't pay much attention to it and finished my run. The next morning, it still felt weird when I walked around, but I decided to try an 18 mile long run anyway. I only made it 6 miles before I had to limp back to the car. I took the rest of the week off and fortunately was able to get a week's worth of massages (from the best massage therapist in Red Stick!) and seemed to be on my way to recovery. But the next week I could barely make it through a 2 mile run without pain and had to take at least 1 day of rest between runs.

By this time, it was January 1 and I was signed up to run a half marathon at the end of the month. I was sure I wouldn't be able to do it! So I did what I should have been doing from the beginning -- I spent a lot of time in prayer, seeking God's forgiveness and guidance. I began slowly adding in longer runs, until I was able to get through an 8 mile run without pain. Then I tried a 14 mile run and I ended up having to walk back to the car in pain. The half marathon was in 6 days, and I couldn't even bend my leg because my knee hurt so much, and it even hurt to walk the next day! Thankfully, after stretching and rolling my leg, it felt good enough to run a little bit toward the end of that week, and I was able to run the 3M Half Marathon in 1:34:22.

After the half marathon, I had more knee pain, but it was gone 2 days after the race. The marathon was 4 weeks away! I was able to run 8 miles without pain, but still hadn't run further than a half marathon without pain in almost 2 months. I was afraid to try a longer run, but I had to do it if I wanted to try to run the full marathon. I was praying about it but still wasn't sure if it was God's will for me to run the half or full race. Then I realized that His will was done -- I was focusing on HIM and not the silly race! That was a great moment for me, and I feel like a fool for it taking so long to sink in. But that's what happens sometimes! I'm just thankful for such a merciful, loving God who cares so much to teach me these little lessons. :-)

Well, finally 3 weeks before the marathon, I did a fantastic 16 mile run on the trail near our house with absolutely no pain. Things were looking up! I was planning on a 19 mile run the following Sunday, but then . . . we all came down with a stomach virus and I couldn't even run 2.5 miles that weekend. I decided to defer to the half marathon instead because I was sure I wouldn't be able to run a marathon in 2 weeks with a recent long run of 16 miles and total weekly mileage of 20 miles per week!

But God kept speaking to me, and almost everyone I know kept telling me to just go for the marathon. So I decided to do it, and what do you know, I actually finished it!! I couldn't believe it. After mile 16, I was literally astonished at every mile that I was able to run. I had never run that far before, and I had a huge smile on my face! I was -- and still am! -- so thankful for a God who cares so much about me.

So my first marathon is done! A huge lesson learned, and 26.2 miles run. That is a really, really, really long way to run. I think I'll stick to 5ks and 10ks for a while. :-)