The weekend of March 7th was my very first half-marathon! It was held at Disney, and was the Princess half-marathon. I was a little worried because I hadn't been able to prepare as I wanted to. Only to add to that anxiety, I was ill almost the entire week before. Which meant that it had been over a week since I had last exercised whatsoever! I wasn't sure how I would do or even if I would finish, but I wanted to go. I wanted to at least give it my best, and if I thought I was going to die, or fell too far behind pace, the man in the truck would pick me up. The day before the race I came back home (an hour drive) to attend my niece, Chloe's 1st birthday party. I was teased by my brothers because none of them believed I could do it, and keep my pace given my stats. I questioned my own abilities, but then further declared to myself that it didn't really matter what they thought I could accomplish, I knew I had it in me (at least the desire). There were only 2 people that told me I could do it, and not to worry about the rest. One being my dad.
My dad has ran many half marathons in his day, and sent loads of tips flying my way to help me along! He will never know how much of an inspiration he was to me that weekend especially. I called him before I went to bed, and then again at 4am when the race was ready to start. He is the only man I know that would be happy to hear from me at 4am, and have such cheer and encouragement in his voice, which flooded me and my friend, Amy. My mom wanted me to know that she would be so proud of me whatever I accomplished. if that was 6 miles, so be it, she would be proud. (Such a mom, I know. That's why she means so much to me). My personal goal was only to finish.
I had never been so excited/nervous to be up at 3am, showered, dressed and ready to arrive at my destination by 4am in my entire life! Amy and I kept telling ourselves we had to do this. Upon signing in, we realized we were in different groups as we started off. I was like 15 minutes behind her. My heart dropped, and wondered how I would do without my great friend, Amy pushing me along. I then decided it was all up to me. I knew I was on this great journey on my own anyways. Nobody could run this race for me, it was mine, and if I wanted to feel the glory of it all I had to get my mind in the right place. I kept telling myself, "If dad can beat stage 4 cancer, surely you can run 13.1 miles." Those of you who have done one knows your mind goes a million places, with many emotions involved even if you aren't an emotional person (of which I'm not). I stood with my group all together as we moved closer to the start line.. I made a few friends as I stood and waited to start. I don't like strangers, so quickly they became friends. "Sue" from Maryland was doing this with her daughter who was also in another group. Which left both of us in the same situation, so we decided to stick together. Mile 3- she was running out of breath and I knew she was slowing me down, so I encouraged her to keep going, and bid my friend a good race, and went on. All through the race I thought of Amy, and wondered how she was doing. I would say a prayer for her that she would keep going, and that he would help her and encourage her onward. Mile 6- I was starting to notice that it was getting harder. I saw a woman with a shirt of herself as a little girl, alongside her dad holding hands on the beach. The back of her shirt read, "running for my hero". My eyes teared up, and I thought that is exactly what I'm doing! I'm running because my dad showed me how fun it could be. I remember going to countless races as a kid to support my dad. This is what my dad would love to see me doing, this is what he wants me to finish. It was at that point that I got another wave of energy. I prayed again for Amy, and prayed that she would do this for herself, and learn her capabilities. As I ran through Cinderella's castle in Magic Kingdom, I had another rushed sense of renewal. I knew I was just over half way home. Mile 8- I could feel my blisters forming on my flat feet. I knew I had to keep going. Mile 9- I was starting to hit a wall. I prayed for help, and encouragement to finish. This was something I wanted, something I wanted to accomplish for myself, so I started running faster instead of stopping. Just about to the mile 10 checkpoint, I thought I was going to die. I didn't know how I could do another 3.1 miles. Just then, I hear someone screaming from behind me "LYDIA!!!!" to my delight, it was Amy, I had passed her briefly. I felt like my prayers had been answered!! The Lord knew when my darkest hour was, and he made it possible for us to meet up. There were almost 11,000 people in the race, and for us to actually see each other was nothing short of a miracle. We walked the last 3 miles, and ran the last .1 mile, but WE DID IT!!! Against the odds stacked against us, WE DID IT with the Lord's helping, yet encouraging hand. After the race I discovered that just like I had, Amy had been praying for me too. I also discovered the moment I felt a rush of gratitude for my dad being the man that he is, he had sent me a text message to keep going, I could do it! That is a huge statement to get a text from my dad.. He just doesn't know how to do that kind of stuff. It was such an incredible feeling that I can't describe.. An AMAZING experience, and something I highly recommend everyone doing. I've already started training for my next one. I've got 3 more half marathons this year! I can't wait!! :)
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