Running My First 1/2 Marathon

I’ve thought for years that I could never run a half or full marathon due to my “bum” knee that I had surgery on back when I was 19 years old. It gives me trouble from time to time, especially when I start running a lot. But, in the past 6 months or so I kind’ve felt as if God were leading me to run the half. So, I started training but always with the intent that if my knee started hurting I would quit.

The first 8 weeks of my training was going along surprisingly great...I was up to 15-18 miles per week and not having any knee pain. I was so proud of myself for increasing my long runs each week...5 to 6 to 7 to 8....However, week 9 came along and my knee started having the worst stabbing pain in it for a relatively easy 4 mile run. I stubbornly stuck to my training schedule and ran 9 miles the next day with quite a bit of pain. The phrase “pride goeth before a fall” comes to mind here.... Needless to say, I couldn’t run at all after that day for a couple of weeks. I would try and the pain would be so bad I’d have to stop. So, here was a turning point: I could just quit, blame my knee and move on with my life...never completing something I believed God had put in front of me. Or....I could try my best to rehab my knee with ice and ibuprofen and....REST. Or, at least rest from running. I chose the second option. I did as much cardio as I could that wouldn’t hurt my knee for a couple of weeks and then gradually eased back into my running program. Unfortunately I must’ve put a lot of pressure on my “good” leg because I subsequently made my whole body (neck, back, hips) feel “out of alignment”. It was very uncomfortable to run. So, I took muscle relaxers at night and did some physical therapy that my friend Shawna had taught my other friend, Heather, for her back! I continued to run and all of that got better. I kept telling God that obviously my body was not cut out for this so He was going to have to make it happen. During this time, I really would have strong feelings to throw in the towel. I mean, really, what was I doing to myself? Was ruining my body worth running a ½ marathon? But, the truth is that I kept hearing God tell me He was in control and He would sustain me (just to clarify: not a big, booming “God” voice...just a voice inside my head). So, I knew that I would run this race not in my own strength, but in God’s strength. One of my favorite verses is 1 Sam. 22:33 “It is God who arms me with Strength and keeps my way secure...” And to be clear here, just because I realized I was running in God’s strength....it didn’t mean I wouldn’t have any obstacles...I went on to have a foot problem and a BLACK toe which resulted in my husband, Chris, having to poke a hole with a burning needle through my big toenail to relieve the blood and pressure built up underneath it...very painful and you wouldn’t even want to see it! But, through it all, I knew that God was with me...and sustaining me. I think this is a good analogy to our Christian lives. Just because we have God on our sides doesn’t mean we won’t have any struggles. In fact, in John 16:33 Jesus says, “..in this world you will have trouble, but, take heart, I have overcome the world.”

Another interesting thing happened to me about this point. I would run and be feeling quite uncomfortable (back aches, knee pain, foot pain, etc.) wishing I wasn’t running and two girls, Kennedy and Jessica, would come into my mind. Kennedy and Jessica, are two of the bravest people I know....Kennedy, age 10, was diagnosed with leukemia over 2 years ago and has been going through treatment ever since. She is currently down to her last two months of treatment. Jessica, age 18, was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancerous tumor behind her eye, two years ago and had actually beat it after 42 weeks of treatment...however, just a few months later she had a recurrence in her lungs and is currently undergoing treatment for a second time. I would run miles thinking to myself that if they could go through all of the stuff they’ve had to go through for the past 2 years that I surely could run a ½ marathon! I would think of those precious girls having to go through the initial phase of being diagnosed and feeling scared and sick...and I would run a little faster. Then I would think of the chemotherapy they’ve had to endure and the sickness and side effects that come along with it....and I would run a little longer. Then I would think of those precious girls losing their hair and all of the subsequent stares and questions they had to endure...and I would run a little more purposefully. I know I could go on and on here: finger pricks, never-ending pokes, ports, steroids and the moodiness those would cause, missing school, time in the hospital....and the list goes on and on. All of these things I would think of while I was running. I believe that God was bringing all of this to me while I pursued this goal.

Kennedy and Jessica are two of the strongest people that I know. And they are only 10 and 18!! They have endured all that they have gone through with such grace and SPUNKINESS (Jessica’s “Cancer Sucks” bumper sticker comes to mind). I know that God has been with them both every step of the way of their journeys just as I have felt Him beside me through my journey the last 18 weeks. I know that because of the struggles they have endured, those girls are much stronger people than they would’ve been without going through these trials. I know there are days where they dread going to the “clinic” or having a “treatment” but they do what they need to do. That is definitely “real life”. I know that we cannot control our circumstances...only our attitudes.

So, tomorrow, May 1, 2011, I will run 13.1 miles in Kennedy and Jessica’s honor. I will do so knowing that my God is with me and has sustained me through this long training program. I will be inspired step by step, yard by yard, mile by mile, by Kennedy and Jessica and the courageous battles they have been fighting for two years. If I get tired and want to slow down, I will simply look down at the pink “Jessica” bracelet and the green “Kennedy” bracelet on my wrist just as I have done for the past 10 weeks of my training and be inspired. For 2 hours and 10 minutes (or less hopefully), I will think of how God is with me and has sustained me through this training process just like He has been with and sustaining these special girls through their battles.