It was a beautiful morning as I rose and began preparing to run the Kirkland Half Marathon, but I was worried. I had not gotten a run over 7 miles in in 3 weeks, my quads were screaming from a hard workout with Jenny 2 days earlier, and my hamstring issue was rearing its ugly head. I truly wondered if I would be able to run at all let alone finish the race. We began the run around 7:30am with my family looking on. My legs seemed to quiet down and I hardly noticed them. My husband and kids met me at around mile 6 with a quick energy drink and I was off again.
As I came up on the pedestrian bridge that crosses over 405, I saw the mountains spread out before me, the sky an almost iridescent blue, and the lake reflecting it perfectly. Just as my breath was escaping me, "Hallelujahs" the song by Chris Rice came on on my mp3 player. Don't know if you know it, but it paints all these beautiful pictures of creation and refrains, "My soul wells up in hallelujahs." I am and was in awe, not only of the beauty before me, but within me - that God has so designed our bodies to work together, to put all its faculties into the goal of running a race. My soul did well up in hallelujahs! And it didn't hurt that from that vantage point, it would seem that it was all downhill from there!
My hamstring wasn't particularly happy towards the end, but it held up. It's so much easier running a race than running alone. Those 13 mile runs alone are just killers (at least for me). I actually felt quite good running yesterday (although that's with 24 hours of rest I say that!) I was just wasted for the remainder of the day - and crampy.
I think next year I'll opt for the breakfast in bed before running a half marathon. (Read "I'll take the day off!)
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