The Rouse House: Half Marathon Completed!

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Half Marathon Completed!

13.1 miles

"It is finished! Praise Jesus!" this is what I said while crossing the finish line at 9:22 am on March 17, 2013. I ran a half marathon, 13.1 miles! What a journey!! This is something I NEVER thought I would do and actually complete... For real! There were so many sweet lessons and spiritual nuggets in this process.

First, the training... 5 months of training for this race. I have never been so disciplined about something in my life. Forcing myself to run, when my mind, body, joints, bones, heart, knees, ankles, hips, shins were telling me DON'T DO IT! But, I did it anyways.. and it paid off! Learning to do things regardless of what you really want to do.

Second, the journey... I had no idea where the next mile would take me, but I would put one foot in front of the other and trust that I would make it to the finish line. This is so applicable to where Clint and I are in this waiting game of where we will be with Young Life next year (YES, we are STILL waiting!) But, it was a fun thing to think about that it was one mile at time, you have to run a lot of miles to make it to finish line, or we have to wait a lot of weeks to make it to the final destination. The real questions is... what is the REAL finish line/final destination. This is something I thought and prayed a lot about while running.

Third, we aren't all marathon runners... So, I trained and I pushed to run the entire training plan. And... I ended up in a boot. I was "booted" for 2 weeks, 4 weeks before race day. I had Perinial Tendonitis in my foot and ankle. I learned true perseverance through this running injury.

Fourth, run the race with a friend... My sweet friend Kelly Odom stuck beside me the entire race! This was the greatest gift, a friend, and a partner in this journey! She is once of my greatest and sweetest friends who now lives in Colorado. Kelly works at the Young Life Camp Trail West! So, I do not get to see her often enough!! 6 of my closest friends completed this race together, all at different speeds! But, so thankful for these girls!

This is the route! 13.6 because I started my app .5 miles early!