5K beats Zero K...

On Friday night, as hubby and I made our way from my pastor's 30th anniversary banquet just shy of midnight, I remember thinking, "Jesus, I'm going to need you to wake me up in the morning because there is no way I am waking up, let alone running. No way."Just in case Jesus didn't come through, I was preparing the excuses in my mind. I was going to be a flake. Again.

A few months ago my girlfriend Nicole and agreed to train for and run a 10k together. She took of running leaving me in the dust. After the wedding and ordination it was tough to gather the strength to even get out to walk. Just shortly after signing up for the Boardwalk Race Against Hunger in Asbury Park, NJ (close to my neck of the woods), I backed out. I was going to try to run it. It probably would have killed me. (dramatic, I know) My hubby looked at me one morning as I made excuses as to why I wasn't going walking and asked, "Are you going to be ready for your race?" "Yes," I replied confidently. He saw through my feigned confidence and asked me again, Are you going to be ready for your race?" "No," crawled from my lips as the tears rolled down my cheeks. I felt like a failure. Not only did I feel like a failure, I also felt like I was going to be disappointing Nicole. Again. So, I took the punk road and instead of calling her, I emailed her to let her know that I wasn't physically ready for the race but that I'd be there to support her. She was disappointed, yes. But she was also graceful and understanding...

Somewhere between backing out completely and race day, I decided to run the 5k instead. I figured 5K beats zero K any day. I emailed the race organizer and signed up for the race that would challenge me, but wouldn't leave me for dead.

Back to race day. I woke up that morning at 5:45am ready to go. Jesus came through as always! We showered, got dressed, ate, and made our way one hour to the race site. It was a beautiful (and hot) day. There were loads of runners. They were serious runners. We felt like amateurs in their presence, but we were prepared to do what we came to do. Nicole did her thing! She placed 11th in the female 10K runners group. I, on the other hand, ran. I did not run fast, but I finished the race (sort of, there was a blip in the turn around point so I was a bit shy of the 5K). And in the end, I felt strong, I felt beautiful, and I felt empowered! It was my first race in over 3 years.
I cannot tell whether or not I'll run another race this season or if I'll wait until Spring (my time) to train and run again. What I can say is that I am grateful to God, my body, and my friend for making sure I got through this one...