I've never ran one before, not even a half one.
I don't even know how to describe it because the weather was so bad I don't know which part was more in turmoil, my body running for 5 hours in freezing bitter pelting rain that would not let up, feet so frozen I could only feel them by their tingling and parts of my body going numb from the cold...I was running through puddles so my feet were just freezing rain soaked...it was bitter cold... I felt the depletion of every cell and marrow and organ in my body. Unfortunately I had focused more on preparing for heat. I packed only shorts and a tank top with ankle socks. That was it. Gratefully, Paul brought a jacket and so I wore it but, the rain just soaked me. I was so frozen I couldn't even speak. But then there is the physical part of forcing your body to run.... after 20 miles it was all will power and inner self pushing because my body was done. I was literally dragging it. It was like my spirit was pulling it and dragging it. I passed healthy muscular men moaning and groaning and no shame, just blantant crying...this didn't happen till around the 23rd mile but there were ambulances, paramedics, wheelchairs... you think...gosh why do people do that to themselves right?
After it was all said and done, the first thing I said was never again will I run a marathon and by the next day I was wanting to run another one. Why? I think its because when we physically push ourselves beyond our limits it is exhilarating. There is a new confidence. I did it. I did it. I endured and lived and am fully recovered by day 3... well except for a few muscles that keep tightening up... Anyways... It does something inside the mind as well as the physical aspect. I feel I can endure more than I ever thought I could before because I lived through something that ended up feeling like it would kill me and I could of sat down and quit but I didn't.
There were these college guys and I kept getting stuck in their pod... they were like spitting and stuff and laughing... I wasn't laughing anymore but I couldn't get away from them because I just couldn't go any faster and this was at mile 16 so I was just kinda trapped with them. They were still laughing and having fun and when they spit I wanted to ...well...I wanted to not play so nice and say HEY HELLO i'm behind you and I don't feel like getting spit on...I know the difference between spit and rain. Yeah I wasn't feeling like my sweet self. So I endured the freezing rain, the run and them but after 22 miles the guys were mercifully mostly silent and in their own private torment but when the clouds just opened up again and poured on us, one of the guys said, "I wish the lightening would just strike me"... and for some reason I busted out laughing... that was just so funny. Because seriously thats how it felt...like lightening striking would be mercy. After 5 hours of running I crossed the finish line staggering and disoriented. My face was wracked in pain but I don't know if it was from the cold or physical. I just don't know. I do not like the cold at all. I don't like rain either. I like it outside and me inside but thats it. I am not a dancing in the rain sort.
After it was all over I had to sit down to wait for Tiffany because I finished first and thats only because I ran faster to get out of the rain and I was also having fun at first. I was playing a game in my head. I would tag people up ahead and pass them... just to get passed the boredom and so I ended up playing this little passing game until mile 10 and that was it. After mile 10 I began to have a concentrated pace. I wasn't giggling anymore. :) By 10 I was a Popsicle.
But after the run, the minute I sat down my body went into cramping up. I freaked out. I couldn't even move without a cramp and I was just mush, I couldn't move right, I couldn't focus... body betrayal. I thought, Oh my gosh this is how people die, the body betrays you and your spirit can't do a thing about it. The spirit is so strong. Its rock solid strong... thats why we can imagine ourselves climbing mountains and swimming across seas because our spirit thinks we can... but most of us can't. I tried that one time...swimming across the lake...
But, its over now and I am done but looking forward to maybe another one next year.
There is only place in which success comes before work.
And that is in the dictionary.
I've got The Father on my side, Jesus Christ, The Holy Spirit and 2/3 of the angels... What do you think I'm going to do? Sit down and cry? ~ Leonard Ravenhill
