Life is Lived in the Hallways

So after 4 months of training and 2 weeks of not really running (& letting tendonitis finally heal itself) I set out on a run this morning. It was a perfect T-shirt & shorts running morning. 60 degrees... beautiful blue sky and a light breeze. I left the house feeling lighter than usual...no fancy watch, no water belt, no detailed 16 mile course this morning, no GU packets in my pockets... Just me, my shoes, my ipod & my prayers cruising around the beautiful canopied streets of PV. Exhilarating. I found myself moving at a quick pace as my thoughts and prayers took over.

So one of the books I'm reading right now is Work in Progress by Kristin Armstrong. She's in short my hero. She's a talented writer, an awesome runner and just an all round pretty cool lady (from what I read in her blog and books). She's a Christian and she's real. (In other words, I'm pretty sure she would talk about God while drinking a margarita with me. My kind of lady.) Its not unusual for my thoughts to turn to one of her blogs or chapters when I'm running.

So back to her book. She has this chapter on courage, which has really captured a lot of my thoughts this week. In this chapter she says, "When I get up in the morning, I always ask the Creator of time to ordain the next twenty-four hours of my life....I want God's presence in everything. From the order of my day, to the prioritizing of my to-do list, to the extra padding of time between tasks so that I have more liberty to listen and adjust to any of God's changes to my schedule. I want him in charge of everything."

I've been convicted over the past few months about how many times I try to fit God into my schedule. I don't just mean fitting in prayer or church time, I mean the big picture. Coming to him with a To-Do list (kind of like I do with Mat when we need to get stuff done on the weekend.) I look back at the last 29 years of my life and I think that has been the consistence of my prayer time. Asking for what I think I need (or want) instead of going to him and asking him to "ordain the next 24 hours". I love this thought. Its so simple, yet what I needed to be reminded of. When I ask God to "ordain the next 24 hours" I am letting go, taking a step back and trusting Him that what He puts in my path is exactly what or where He needs me to be or to be doing. I love this thought. Its not just the big things... but the small things - the ordinary things, as she quotes "Life is lived in the hallways". My prayer for the next year of my life is that I can become better about turning over my to do list every morning and fit into His agenda instead of the other way around.

From Marathon to 5K

WOW! What a week! This week dawned bright and early Sunday morning (3:30 to be exact) when we headed to catch the bus in Monterey and went out to run the Big Sur Marathon in California.

Amazing. Beautiful. Brutal.

This will be one of my all time favorite moments to look back on when I am old and gray. The scenery was outstanding and we were serenaded by the Pacific ocean as we ran our 26.2 miles of pure hills. We headed down the PCH from Big Sur to Monterey, at one point climbing a 2 mile hill at a 7% grade...Hurricane Point. It was somewhat of a selfish endeavor. Running is my guilty pleasure...as I have written about before...but this was extra special. I have spent the past 4 months of my life training with Mat and our running partner Lindsay for this marathon. Training with the two of then was lots of fun, except that I got injured part way through and spent a month cross-training. I truly had no idea how the run would go. Thanks to prayer and awesome PT, it went better than I could have asked for. I can't express how awesome it was to run and finish this goal with Mat.

Can't wait for our next marathon!

On the way...

Hurricane Point

Post Run Beer

The week wrapped up today with a 5K in which my little running group participated. Some friends& I coach a little running club of about 75 kiddos - The Cardinal Racers - that not only encourages kids to become better runners, but to focus on the character aspect of running:

hard work, encouragement, goal setting, responsibility, etc.

It's a blast. We run 2 races each year and enjoy every moment of it. For these students, its especially special. Most of these students don't play club level sports - or are members of any sports teams for that matter. Most are happy having a meal on the table consistently. Most can't afford the $12 race fee. Most run in ratty tennis shoes and jeans. ALL have a blast. I have a BIGGER blast watching them set and accomplish their goals. It is my most FAVORITE part of the year. There is nothing like cheering on a racer on the sideline and all of a sudden they kick it in gear and run their little hearts out. Or running beside them and hear THEM cheer on other runners in the race. Or thank the volunteers at the water station, or the policeman directing traffic. Or to hear them tell you they beat their goal. WOW. This program has such a big place in my heart....

So what a week... A week getting to do one of my favorite past times. RUN. From Marathon to 5K... this week has been so rewarding - on so many levels.