I Did It!!

Those who trust in the Lord shall mount up on wings of eagles; they shall run and not be weary and shall walk and not faint.

That scripture from Isaiah was my inspiration when I agreed to run the Sawtooth Relay back in the fall of last year and later became the basis for our team name On Eagle's Wings.  My motivation for signing up for the race was because I wanted to really challenge myself.  I had never voluntarily done something really difficult that was just for me.  It was a chance for me to test my mind's determination and my body's ability and just...ME.  I wanted to become more. 

A year ago I could not run for three minutes, let alone five miles.  I didn't exercise consistently and I was not at all happy with my body image.  After months of trying, I still couldn't run a mile.  And then, long before I felt I was ready, it was time for the race.  I had plenty of excuses to drop out; a stress fracture in my foot, sick kids, a sinus infection and a forecast for snow and lows in the 20s.  But Friday night at 9 p.m. we stuffed ourselves and all our gear in the car and away we went. 

The Sawtooth Relay is a 62 mile race with a 6 member team from Stanley to Ketchum.  In the middle of the race looms Galena Summit, at an elevation of 8,701 feet.  The 310 teams stagger their start times every fifteen minutes beginning at midnight.  Our start time was 1:45 a.m.  When we arrived in Stanley it was 23*.  I was running the third leg and began at 3:40 a.m.  I would gain 240 feet in elevation.  While everyone else on my team was running their 5-6 miles in just under an hour, I estimated that it would take me about an hour and a half to run my 5.03 miles.  And so I set out...The night was pitch black around me with no moon.  The temperature was 27*.  I was nervous to run in the dark by myself.  The route was on a state highway through the forest.  I was wearing a headlamp and a reflective vest and lots of layers of clothing.  Soon after I started running a thick fog rolled in and remained around me the whole time.  Surprisingly, it wasn't scary but very peaceful.  For much of the run I couldn't see anyone in front of me or behind me.  It was just me, the road and the Lord.  That may sound silly but I was relying on Him so much for this.  I found myself talking to Him often as I trained and especially as I ran alone in the dark.  I felt His presence and I couldn't have done this without Him by my side. 

Finally, I saw the flashing light ahead that signaled the exchange point.  When I got back in the car I was soaking wet from the sleet and fog.  My wet hair hung in icicles around my face and my headlamp was iced over.  The sky was just starting to get light around me.  My time was 1:15.  I was halfway done!

My second leg was a little warmer, 42*.  By now the sun had broken through the clouds and I was wearing fewer layers.  It was still SO cold though and it had been snowing as our racers went over Galena.  This leg was 4.64 miles with a loss in elevation of 350 feet.  I really wasn't feeling well.  My stomach was churning (probably from no sleep and no real food).  Away I went.  

On my first leg, around mile 2 I think, a man had passed me and called out, "You're doing great!  We are almost there!"  And like a fool I believed him.  That made my run seem to last forever as I watched and watched for the exchange that never came.  So this time I told my team not to pull out to wait for me until at least the halfway mark of my leg.  And I bargained with myself, as I always do when I run, telling myself that I would not stop running to walk for a minute until my teammates had passed me and I could no longer see their car.  Well, I just kept running and running and running and running.  I don't know what they had been doing but they waited a long time before they left the exchange and traveled on down the road.  So I didn't walk at all until halfway through my second leg.  That was huge for me because the farthest I had ever run without stopping was a mile before this day.  After that I ran out of steam quickly.  In fact, about an eighth of a mile before the exchange, Kevin met me on the road and practically pulled me along to the finish line.  I was so grateful to see him!  I think I would have crawled across the finish if he had not been there.

But it was another amazing experience to run.  I was doing it!!!!  That thing that I was sure I absolutely could not ever do ~ I was really doing it!!  I actually spent most of my second leg in tears because I was so amazed that I was doing it and so thankful to my Father in Heaven for helping me to do it.  I was overcome with His love for me and I felt His approval of me.  Not to say that I am perfect, I certainly have a long way to go to become the person that God wants me to be, but I knew that my Heavenly Father knew my heart and knew how much I was trying to become who He sees I can be.  It was such an amazing experience!  This is why I committed to do this race!  It was more incredible than I ever imagined it could be.  There is nothing that we can't do with the help of the Lord!  And if I could do this ~ the thing I was sure I could never do ~ what other amazing things are out there waiting for me with the help of the Lord? 

With God all things are possible!   

Indeed.

(pictures to come)