race day

It was race day today!!! I ran a half marathon today in honor of Georgia Mae's 13th birthday that is just around the corner. (13.1 miles for a 13th birthday on October 13th!) 

 Let's just say that our kids and godchildren are keeping me in shape with these races! 

Here's a fun text from Georgia Mae that I took a screenshot of this morning.... 

What a gift to tiptoe out of our room early this morning to get ready and find these notes waiting for me from Taylor and Anna... 

What you can't read here because the ink is light blue is that Anna wrote 

"I saw Taylor's sign for you when I got home so this was really his idea!" 

So, I drove to Snohomish (about 40 minutes from Seattle) and got to the start around 7:10 this morning with plenty of time to pick up my race number and to warm up. I parked pretty close to the start so I left some things in my car with the plan that I was going to come back and re-group once I had checked in. When I got to the registration table, I felt in my pocket and I could not find my key. I looked all around me but did not see it anywhere. I made a quick bathroom stop and then continued my search, but it was nowhere to be found. For the next 30 minutes before the race started, I paced back and forth between the car and the registration table looking for a small gray key on the asphalt.  The bummer was that my phone with my playlist I made for this race, my earbuds, and my mittens were still in the car, and I had no way to get to them. But strangely enough, though this could have been pretty stressful, I just accepted my new reality, prayed about it and let it go for the time being.  This verse below came to mind that Anna and I had read last week..... 

There was not much I could do at that point after looking, and I was able to be present enough to just focus on running which was such a gift. 

Before the race started, I asked someone at the registration table if there was anyone who had an extra pair of gloves that I could borrow for the race as my hands get pretty cold (I had to do this once before in a marathon so I've had some practice walking up to strangers asking to borrow things), and a woman named Sarah smiled and pulled some soft gloves from my favorite running store (Oiselle) out of her pocket and loaned them to me.  I got a little choked up with this simple act of kindness.... 

the wonderful woman's card who loaned me the gloves 

I started the race and felt pretty strong at the beginning (in my purple tutu- no less!). 

There was no music as I had planned, but I just let go of it and tried to do the best I could to get in a groove of the pace I wanted to run and to stay there.  I felt pretty good most of the race, but the last 3 miles were harder. My calf cramped up at mile 10 and then my quads cramped up after that so it took more to push through.  One step at a time-- in each mile I was in but I was able to finish strong. 

  

looks like my watch said I went a bit longer than the race course-- oh well! 

YAY! 2nd in my age division! 

powered and inspired by GEORGIA MAE!!! 

After the race, I walked up and down the road again looking for my key and asked at the registration table a few times. After about 1/2 hour of looking, I was about to give up and call Anna to ask her to bring me a key. The person I asked to borrow a phone said, "We just heard someone mentioned that they found and turned in a key!" And lo and behold, I went to the announcer and he gave me the key. That was my trophy of the day! 

Today was so sweet to experience the goodness of God and to pray for Georgia Mae to experience these things: 

• the kindness of strangers
• a heart free from worry and able to trust God 
• the invitation to find your groove and stay in step with the Spirit
• the ability to run the mile you're in (a favorite mantra of mine while running)
• health to be able to live and move and run and play
• grit when you need it to get the job done 
• joy at the finish
• tangible ways to see God's goodness (even in found keys!) 

This is a prayer I found about a labyrinth, but I think it fits with my race today: 

"Walk with me Lord through all the twists and turns of life, walk with me when clouds obscure the way, when what seemed close is now so far away. Walk with me Lord until I trust in you, lead me to the center of your love."