Finally 20 miles

• New sporty haircut - check
• Bright orange and cute running outfit - check
• Bright orange nail polish to match the outfit - check
• A perfect Colorado morning for running - check
• Running 20 miles and feeling great - priceless

Saturday was the day, the day to run 20 miles. I must admit I was a bit nervous on Friday night as I felt rather tired and not sure that I would be able to wake up early in the morning. But Scott bought me a runners magazine and I was reading it that afternoon. They were talking about the value of running in the early morning. So even though I was tired I was motivated to get up early and do this run.
Well I woke up feeling refreshed and ready for my long run. I followed my usual morning routine; breakfast, coffee and time reading my bible and praying. Now I am ready, water bottle filled, GU in my pocket, sunglasses and of course my music. I sneaked out of my quiet house, everyone is still fast asleep and enjoying a Saturday morning sleep in and I must confess as I walked out the house I wished that I was still snuggled in bed asleep.
But as I walked down the road (part of my warm up) I looked up at the sky, the sun was just rising and the sky was the most beautiful pinky color and I had such a sense that God was with me as I began my run this morning. As I looked at the sky I was reminded of the words of a song by The Afters called Light up the Sky "You Light, light, light up the sky. You light up the sky to show me, you are with me. And I, I, I can't deny, no I can't deny that You are right here with me....."  Isn't that just so encouraging to know that no matter where you are whether at work, school, the grocery store or a mom at home or out enjoying a run God is with us and has His hand upon us.
Anyway the sky was just stunning, it looked like pretty pink cotton candy and I must say at that point I felt really encouraged and excited about my run. About two miles later I was again aware of the beauty of Colorado, the sun was lighting up the mountains in front of me and I thought wow I am so blessed to be out running at this time of the morning.

I set myself a few milestones to get to as I ran, my first stop was at the top of the golf course. I just had a quick drink and refilled my water bottle. Then I ran out to the Soda Lakes beach, it actually went easier than I expected and I made to the lakes about 15 minutes ahead of what I thought I would do. So again a quick drink and refill the water bottle. Off to Morrison from there and it just started to drizzle, I must say I was praying that it wouldn't rain too much. I didn't feel like getting super wet, fortunately the rain held off for awhile longer. I ran through Morrison and then stopped for a drink and some GU, a nice (as nice as GU can taste) blueberry flavor. So now I was energized and ready for the run home. As I started running out of Morrison, a song came on my iPod; Blessing by Laura Story and I had to laugh because the chorus says "What if your blessings come through raindrops..." and it started to rain again.
From Morrison to home I just felt great and just enjoyed being out and accomplishing a goal. As I was almost home I saw my neighbor out running. It is always nice to see someone you know when you are out running, well we were able to encourage each other and keep going.

I was so happy to see my house, 2 hours and 45 minutes later. Everyone was now awake, Emma had helped Chloe to get dressed, Scott had given the girls breakfast. So I was able to sit for 30 minutes with my feet soaking in warm water with Epsom salts and watch a triathlon on TV. I decided maybe next year I should try a triathlon, just an idea at the moment. Anyway my feet felt great afterwards.
So after a nice warm shower, I treated myself to a nice cup of coffee and warm white chocolate chip cookies, what a nice treat.

I think last time in my blog I mentioned that my right ankle had been a bit sore. Well I have been putting ice on it and I did take an Ibuprofen and that really helped a lot and now my ankle is so much better and didn't even ache today. So hopefully it is healing up well. My toes are also much better, Vaseline and the socks with the toes are making a huge difference.

I found this interesting piece of advice in my latest running magazine. "More seasoned marathoners might race a 10 km the day after a long 16-20 miles to simulate running the final miles on tired legs." Ok so I am not a seasoned marathoner but I decided to give this a try. So I woke up early on Sunday morning and did a 10 km run. Let me tell you the first 2 km were just awful, my legs were so tired and I just didn't want to run but I pushed through. It actually got easier and I ended up enjoying my run, so hopefully that is a good sign for the marathon.

Unfortunately I have a bit of a head cold at the moment, so I am taking a lot of Vitamin C, eating lots of blueberries and drinking blueberry tea and it does seem to be helping. I took the day off yesterday and today I think I will just do something easy like some rowing. Tomorrow I will get back to my schedule.

Well the time is ticking by and I am excited to do this marathon, feeling confident that I can finish it.
I found this quote in a book I was reading "Better to keep your focus on the goal rather than on the obstacles." Tamera Alexander. So I am keeping my eyes on the goal of finishing this marathon instead of looking at all the things that can go wrong. I think in life we need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and know that He will lead us through those obstacles or He will give us the strength we need to deal with the obstacles. I am so aware of God strengthening me each day and I am so grateful that God is my hope and anchor.
May God be your strength each day.
Thank you for reading.