Thank You Heavenly Father...

i have signed myself up for a half marathon on May 1st. that is in 2 weeks! i have been training for this, but probably not as well as i should have. i have been running in the cold weather, rain, and snow. today was a beautiful day. a warm day. i was not ready to run in warm weather! Monday i ran 7 miles in the rain. well i ran three miles when it started to rain and had to run back in the rain. i kept hoping Russ would come pick me up. problem being he didn't know the route i was running. at around 3.5 miles good old "Eye of the Tiger" came on the ipod and got me through it. so today was my long run, 10 miles. i have never done that before. I've done 8, but 10 is 2 more miles. did i mention it was hot! at the 3 mile mark i thought i was going to pass out. at 6 miles i pass the house. i thought, "Russ, please be outside so you can get me a drink of water to throw over face!" he was not. i really wanted to just stop there, but i still had 4 for miles to go. back around mile 5 a guy was washing his car. i really wanted to run past him and ask if he would spray me. but i lacked the courage. at mile 7 i was really started to lose my mental battle of just stopping and walking. i was telling myself i was nuts for even thinking i could do it. then at Thanksgiving Point they had their sprinklers on at the corner i was running past. i was so happy to run through them! splash my face and rub my arms and legs in them. the next song that came on the i pod was Motivated Me, by Good Charlotte. the chorus goes like this..."Motivate me, I wanna get myself out of this bed
Captivate me, I want good things inside of my head
If I fall down, would you come around, and pick me right up off the ground"
i almost started crying right then, because i know my Heavenly Father was Motivating me to finish. he gave me some sprinklers to run through and a song to keep me going.
then with just over a mile to go i again was having a mental battle. my whole body hurt. my armpits were starting to chaff, my thighs were beginning to burn, i just wanted to be done. the next song that came on the i pod was The Middle, by Jimmy Eat World, (and yes these are songs from Russ' music. but they sure helped me today!) the lyrics for it are...
"Hey, don't write yourself off yet
It's only in your head you feel left out or
looked down on.
Just try your best, try everything you can.
And don't you worry what they tell themselves when you're away.
[Chorus]
It just takes some time, little girl you're in the middle of the ride.
Everything (everything) will be just fine, everything (everything) will be alright (alright).

now this all might sound silly to someone else, but i am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for helping me through my 10 mile run today. it might not have been graceful or strong, but i didn't walk and i didn't stop. i know that i could not have run that alone today mentally i had already given up. but my Heavenly Father had faith in me when i didn't. so I'm grateful for that. who knows how i will finish 13.1 miles in two weeks when 10 almost did me in today. I'm banking on Russ and the kids to cheer me through part of it and praying my Heavenly Father will be with me again.today was a battle i really needed to win, so I'm grateful my Heavenly Father was there to help make sure i did.
and i am sure grateful Russ gave me his ipod to run with!!