For example, at Disney I pretended I was a princess and I was running through the parks trying to find my prince charming (which is Jon, of course).
For Chickamauga, I told them I would pretend that my husband (Jon again) was in the Civil War (we ran the battlefield where part of the Civil War was fought .. . it was beautiful). . . and I was running to find him. . . to see if he was hurt. . .if he was wounded.. . if he was alive. . . you know a little dramatic and all like Scarlet O'Hara.
Well, the next race on our agenda with Warner Robins Air Force Base. Guess what we were running. . . the Air Force Base. B-O-R-I-N-G. No pretty scenery. Really no story to make up in your head. . .or at least I wasn't feeling that creative that day.
I was really, really excited, though. My Dad was coming. He insisted on it. He was so very sweet. I tried to talk him into just being there at the finish. NOPE!! He told me he was going to be there to see me start and finish. The problem was it was supposed to rain that day. He told me he would be standing in the rain. If I was running in the rain, he was going to stand in the rain waiting at the finish line for me. He thought it would make me run faster.
Y'all this race was SO hard. Worst than my first. I had been doing the Daniel Fast. So, I didn't have much fuel for my body. . . and on mile 15, I started breaking down. I told Angela to go ahead. So the last 11 miles I was by myself. It was so cold and so rainy. I literally probably walked about 5 miles. It was so hard. I so wanted to make my Dad proud and have a really good time. Angela had even told me that at the end she wanted me to sprint ahead of her, just so Dad would be extra proud.
No chance. Angela finished around 4 hours 15 minutes. Me? 4 hours 50 minutes!! YIKES!!!
My Daddy was there, in the pouring, freezing rain. Right at the finish line (my eyes well up with tears as I think about this). He immediately wrapped me up in towels, took my hat off me and put his hat on me, took his jacket off and put it around me. He was so sweet!!!!
I told him over and over and over again how special it was to me that he was there. Angela won 2nd place in her age group. I got home and looked at the results to see how poorly I did. Guess what? I won 3rd place in my age group (with an awful time like that even). But see, I had missed the awards ceremony. I didn't even think there would be a chance of me winning anything. So, I emailed the coordinators of the race and they mailed me my trophy (I need to take a picture of it and post it).
Funny thing how your mind works. I was beating myself to pieces about my awful time. Then, I find out I get a trophy, I'm all happy go lucky, excited like crazy!!! Jon was so funny. He told me, "Babe you do realize you still have the same time." I know hunny, but at least I get a trophy for it!!!
Another thing that meant so much to me during this race was I had my cell phone with me. Normally I don't have it, but because I was meeting up with my Dad at the beginning of the race I needed it. During my "down times" in my run (or I should say walked, 'cause I walked ALOT) my phone was goingg off like crazy. . . people calling, people texting. . . letting me know they were praying for Angela and I. Oh, my heart was so warm from all the love. I really do believe that is why God had me take my cell phone with me. Because, although I was not in the mental state to pick up my phone or even look at it to see who was calling, just hearing the rings going off, knowing people were thinking of me and praying for me meant SO VERY MUCH!!! For those of you who called or texted or facebooked me or emailed me, I love you all. You encourage me more than you could EVER know!!!
1 comment:
My favorite marathon story...your Daddy being there.
Haven't talked to you about how he's doing lately.
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