The Big Three Five

It's been pretty slow since the end of my triathlon season in August.  I have been doing a little of this and a little of that to try to stay in some sort of shape (round is a shape, right?!) as I try to motivate myself to train for marathon season.  This week is the first time we have had a break in the weather and I think that is going to help a lot.  A week ago I went out after church, hoping to run 16 miles.  I suffered through 11, and I mean SUFFERED, and then I just quit.  I never broke into it.  I felt slow and heavy and out of breath the entire time.  I did find out when I finished that it was 102 degrees out, so that was probably bad planning on my part!  This Sunday was my 35th birthday.  Last year I told myself that for my 35th birthday I was going to run 35 miles, because that would just be cool.  Well when the day got here I knew that was out of the question.  I was pretty bummed but then realized I could cheat a little and do 35 Kilometers instead and not have totally failed my goal!  I needed to be at church by 8:30 so that meant I needed to be finished running by 7:30.  Yikes.  But I had to try, right?  So at 4:20 I hit the streets.  It was nice and cool (65 degrees) but I still felt sluggish starting out (could be because I shopped in Canton all day the day before, could be that it was freaking early in the morning!!).  So I started praying.  My run has been off for weeks and I prayed that God would give me my run back.  Psalms says that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart.  I told Him that this was the desire of my heart.  Within a mile I could feel my legs lighten and my energy rise.  I immediately thanked God for not only hearing me and not only answering my prayer (because I believe that He ALWAYS hears and ALWAYS answers) but that He answered immediately.  I praised God for the next 3 hours and 10 minutes as I ENJOYED running 22 miles (35 Kilometers)!  It was wonderful.  Thank you, God, for giving me that wonderful gift on my birthday!  I finished my run and was at church on time.  Woot!

Coming up is the San Antonio marathon in November, Whiterock marathon in December, Austin half marathon girls' trip with Nancy and Kellie in February and either the full or ultra at Cowtown the next weekend.

Happy Running!