Half Marathon F-U-N

Well this morning was the 4th Evansville Half Marathon and since I'm sitting here blogging about it you know that I survived. It was not my best run to say the least...the 93% humidity and 90 degrees plus temps does not make for the best race conditions. I thought that in October the temperatures are supposed to be in the 50's? Anywho, I started out with my dad and I had a great first 4 miles but the heat and such made it a challenge to settle in and get comfortable. What do you do when you still have 9 miles to go? You just keep on keeping on! My dad finished before me by about 15 minutes and was there with Holly and Elaysha to cheer me on at the finish. What a great feeling to finish! Here are some pictures below:

Almost to the finish line on the downtown riverfront

Dad crosses the finish line

Almost there...

We are the champions....

Fall Festival Fun

Friday night I arrived in Evansville in time to enjoy the Annual West Side Nut Club Fall Festival. The boulevard is loaded with every food booth imaginable and the lawns at the library are ran over with Carnival rides and games. It's every kids dream. The food was delicious, the people watching was spectacular (I counted 8 mullets in a 2 hour period...amazing) and the smile on my niece's face when she won her goldfish was priceless. Here are some pictures:

Elaysha eating yummy mozzarella sticks

Holly eating a gianormous tenderloin sandwich

Elaysha holding her goldfish, which she named Mallory

Elaysha riding the kiddie train

On Your Mark...Get Set...GO...

Well this is it....the big weekend that will end with a bang on Sunday morning as my dad and I participate in the 4th Annual Evansville Half Marathon. I am excited, I feel good and am ready to run. AND I love any opportunity to be home and see my family.

I was looking through some scripture this morning as I was trying to remember what passage the line "let us run the race with patience..." came from when I came across another passage that struck me:

"I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever." I Cor. 9:23-25 NIV

Of course it had the analogy of running a race but what struck me was the motivating factor. Sure, I have done my training and will run to receive a finisher's medal at the end. My motivation is to cross the finish line and receive a medal. The medal will be great and I will bask in the pride of my accomplishments and show it off to others. But where will my medal be this time next year? I would probably guess in one of my storage boxes along with old letters and photos.

What motivates me in life...do I live my life to please others? Do I live for temporary/material "wealth" OR do I live a life that is pleasing to GOD? Is it a life that truly gives Him Glory?

I would hope and pray that when all is said and done and the final race is run, that my "medal" will be an Eternal one!

Speechless...

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words but yesterday while I was running up a hill, I was greeted at the top by a sunset that left me speechless. I don't think I could use a thousand words to articulate just how amazing this sunset was...it literally took my breath away (or maybe that was because I was running up a hill...ha!) I was awestruck and once again reminded of just how vast and awesome God is.

T-Minus 5 days and counting...

Is it sad that the biggest happening in my life right now is the Half Marathon that I'm going to be running on Sunday?!? Actually despite the past week of foot injuries and tummy problems, I am rather excited to do this race and can't believe that it's already here. Seems like just yesterday that I stared at my 12 week training schedule, took a deep breathe and laced up my running shoes for a 3 mile run. Now, I only have 2 more "easy" runs to go before a good two days of rest and then the big event. I'm sure the nerves will be in overdrive early Sunday morning but right now I feel excited and ready to run. And I am very excited to be running this race with my dad. He turned 60 in April and I could only hope to be able to still run, let alone run 13.1 miles, when I am 60. I couldn't think of a better running partner to have!