And Their Off..............

Well, today marked a major mile stone for me. I completed my very first 5K. I have been walking for years but never really pushed myself to enter a "race". Mostly, because I never thought I could do it. About five weeks ago, a few of my friends and I were "chatting" on Facebook about a local ministry that was sponsoring a 5K walk to raise money to build chicken houses that were damaged by the earthquake in Haiti a while back. Two of the ladies are runners and have completed many races. The other three of us are walkers, with only one of us ever entering a race before. The challenge was posed that we should all enter. At first, I was super excited but about three weeks into training I thought to myself "what have I done?" But with the encouragement of the nightly chats with "the ladies", I pushed on. Never having walked a 5K before, I had no base time for myself. After several walks about this distance, I had set a goal of under 1 hour. Today taught me MANY lessons. The first being- stretch more and eat a banana BEFORE I START! I did take some ibuprofen about a half hour before I started walking. If I had not thought to do that, I most likely would have been in an even worse way by the end. My daughter Britni decided, the night before, to walk with me. I am so glad she did. She was my cheerleader and I probably would have been tempted to give up had she not been by my side. I started out at a quick pace, probably too quick. About mid-way into mile one, I started having something similar to shin splints on the top of my ankle. This has never happened to me on a walk before so I was a bit perplexed as to what to do. At mile one, Britni checked our time and we were at 17 minutes. During mile two, the cramping got worse and my stride was thrown off, I started crying but kept on going. When we hit mile 2, Britni checked our time as 37 mins. Unfortunately, I had to slow down during mile 3. I was really thinking I couldn't do it and stopping to stretch only made things worse. About that time, Britni started singing the song she had playing on her mp3 player, "You're an Over-comer" by Mandisa. By that time, the song on my mp3 player was "You Were Meant to Be Courageous" by Casting Crowns. I pushed on, with an awkward walking stride until we rounded the corner near the finish line. About the last, 50 ft. I looked at Britni and said "Do you want to run the last little bit?" not thinking she would because she hadn't been doing any training to get ready for this and she said "sure, you can do it" so we broke into a slow jog and I crossed the finish line at 61.52 mins. Not my goal but not far from it either. 

Our group before the race began.

Britni and I starting the race. (before the shin splints)

Crossing the finish line.

After the race. Four in our group won awards!! 

You see, this wasn't just about getting in shape or completing a race, for me, it was a much greater victory than either of those great accomplishments. For me, it was the next step up a ladder out of the pit of a General Anxiety Disorder I have been fighting. On this very weekend, one year ago, I was taken by ambulance, while walking, to the ER. At the time, I didn't know what was wrong but through that visit and following visits with my doctor, they categorized what I was having as panic attacks from anxiety. It has been a long journey. With the help of the Lord Jesus, medicine and the support of loving family and friends, the dark tunnel is getting brighter every day. This will not be the last 5K for me, Lord willing. New training goals start on Monday. As one of our signs said "All things are possible with God". If I can do this- anyone can.