Mile Markers and Finish Lines

I ran my first half marathon yesterday. I finished tenth out of the 15 in my age group. I'll be honest.....I didn't really train for it. The farthest I ran before the race was 8 miles and that was almost a month ago. I just lost all motivation right before the race....not sure why. Crossing that finish line though made it all come back to me. Why am I here? Why am I healthy? Why do I strive to do better and better every day? I do it for myself and my family.

I did it for my father. It was his 53rd birthday and all he wanted was for his four children to be by his side every step of the way. We were.....he beat all of our asses too. The look on my dad's face when he passed me was priceless. I will forever cherish that memory. He is the best dad a girl could ever ask for.

It was for my wonderful husband who was waiting for me at the finish line arms open wide with pride in his eyes. Those baby blues gave me another wind that could have pushed me to run an entire marathon. I swear I get the craziest ideas in my head sometimes and he supports me every step of the way. We have come so far since I met him years ago. I love him so much and would do anything for him. He is my world.

Lastly, it was for myself.....when I passed mile marker 10 I felt like giving up. I had not planned on finishing this race. I really only entered it for my dad because it was his birthday wish. When that thought crept in my head, I pushed it away and kept on going. One step at a time....breathe in, breathe out.....keep on going. When I passed 12 I had to take a second look to make sure it was really happening! I had so much emotion take over me at that moment I almost started crying......instead, I pushed harder and let a tear or two out. They were victory tears :)

I learned so much from this day. I think we all will or have reached a point in our lives where we feel like we cannot keep going. We may feel like giving up, giving in......or just collapsing and letting the world around us take control. We all have that moment in life where we have to make a decision that will impact us greatly for better or for worse.  When you get to that "mile" in life you never thought you would hit, you can push harder and make it through or stop and cut yourself short. I plan on pushing myself even harder to see what God has in store for me. I plan on running this race we call life with the people who matter most. When I reach that finish line, I know it will be worth it.