Fast forward to January of this year, with numerous half marathons under my belt, when I decided to set the biggest running goal I'd ever set for myself: the bucket-list worthy FULL MARATHON.
Well, thinking back, it was more a challenge my husband presented to me. "Hey, babe? I think you should train for a full marathon."
Challenge: accepted. And I'm glad I did. Training for this race changed my life and strengthened my faith.
When I had crossed off an additional two half marathons - the Garmin Half Marathon in April and the Bill Snyder Highway Half Marathon in May - my 26.2 goal started to come into better focus.
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| Garmin Half Marathon |
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| Bill Snyder Highway Half Marathon |
To train, I would follow the same program I had used for my very first half marathon. I trusted Hal Higdon and his process and had no doubt his full marathon training program would get me to the finish line. And although I've always known I could trust God, that I was loved by God and God is love, what I didn't expect is for something like running to strengthen my faith and draw me closer to Him.
The Hal Higdon training program is 18 weeks long averaging 15-24 miles per week in the first seven weeks, 25-40 miles per week in the next eight weeks with the longest training run being 20 miles. By the time you complete the training program, you'll have logged over 400 miles.
One thing I knew going into this, was that I wanted to minimize the amount of time that the training was going to keep me away from my family. It meant leaving my quiet house with everyone sound asleep early, early in the morning when my distances increased and waiting until the kids were in bed on runs I needed to complete during the week. It maximized my time with the kids, but still took time away from my husband.
Justin has been amazing throughout the entire training process, dragging the kids out of bed earlier than kids should be on a weekend to bring me water and cheer me on. With each run I found myself thanking God for the blessing of such a supportive spouse and three awesome kiddos. I thanked Him for each mile I safely logged by marking myself with the sign of the cross at each mile marker as a reminder that the gift of running was given to me by God and should thus be dedicated back to Him.
Each mile I ran became more about God and my family and less about me. I started to find more comfort in my Pandora Catholic "Kids" Worship station than my pop fitness station. I found several amazing podcasts that inspired me to be a better person... even listening to them as I would run sometimes. I found a great Facebook group of others moms with a love of Christ.
God works in mysterious ways so the saying goes, and I can't explain how all these elements fell into place, but I feel extremely blessed that they did. I strengthened my relationship with God through prayer and encouraged my family to do the same - to talk to God even if just to tell Him about your day or to thank Him for the roof over our head.
And just a few days ago, the culmination of our efforts... a day months in the making that included hours upon hours of running, cheering and teamwork. A challenge that turned into a goal, that turned into a reality, with a lot of blood, sweat, tears and prayers along the way.
I completed my first full marathon in four hours and nine minutes. Four hours and nine minutes carrying not only MY prayers but of those I offered up on behalf of other brothers and sisters in Christ. And during the race when my legs started to ache, the wind pushed against me and my mind started to doubt, when it got hard I reminded myself who I was doing this for and it helped me continue on. And let me tell you, when I saw my beautiful family near the finish line - queue the tears. It was the absolute best feeling.
There are some people in life who make you laugh a little louder, smile a little bigger and live a little better. For me, these people are my family. I thank God for them every day. I may have been the one who physically ran the 26.2 miles and the one wearing the medal last Saturday, but as a family we all earned it.
My family, who through God's grace and blessings, has been supporting me through my pursuit of running for YEARS now. I hope and pray they see in me a wife and a momma who has a passion for the Lord and a desire to work hard and accomplish big dreams. I hope and pray they set out to do the same ❤️
I know I'm not the first or last person to ever run a marathon , but right now I'm on cloud nine.
I think I'll just hang out here for awhile.
Alicia
