What a MOMENT!!

Today my training calendar said Run for 45 minutes.

I swam hard yesterday - Swimming 50m to warm up, then swam as long as I could just to see how far I could go without stopping and that was about 15min 30sec. Then I swam 50m to "cool down". Total distance 750m! That was pretty exciting!

Today running for 45 minutes didn't sound terribly daunting, but I know once I get started, it is. But since my training calendar says to do it. I just do.

But today was different because today was the first day I did my entire 5k. I wondered what song would come on as I was finishing. Today it was "Crown Him with Many Crowns" an old hymn Michael W Smith remade for his album "I'll Lead You Home". If you haven't heard it - google it and see if you can listen... I couldn't find a good link quickly or I would have put it on here.

Anyway, as one of my favorite anthems is blaring in my ears I am tearing up and raising one hand into the air praising the Lord for bringing me this far. It feels like such a long road. I have farther yet to go. BUT, I know He has provided for me the time, energy, finances, etc to see this goal accomplished and I am SO very thankful!

I felt almost a little silly - but not quite. You see, whoever was looking at me had no idea what I have spent my life doing and how HUGE it is for me to be running on a treadmill for over 3 miles.

I was sharing with a few friends at a party last night about how I have NEVER completed an athletic goal. Some thing always happens where I get injured or life gets in the way and I have to change plans. I have had events as simple as a PE challenge for the Presidential Fitness Awards get blown for a dislocated shoulder and a twisted knee and a twisted ankle (yes, all 3 happened in 3 different years). A couple of years later I trained for months and months for a horse show and got dumped in the warm up ring. Then once my injuries healed I trained for another horse show and ended up crashing INTO a fence in the warm up ring and then there was the time I broke my back (compression fracture of 2 vertebrae) after training for months for a horse show in College, and pretty much after that, I gave up. I would still do athletic things when I was pretty sure I wouldn't get hurt, but never with any direct purpose or goal in mind.

All that to say, part of why this triathlon is SUCH a big deal is because I have never achieved a goal like this before. When I train, I am very careful to avoid injury and have had several "near miss" type incidents (like stepping off a curb I didn't see - but only strained a muscle in my foot) these past couple of months. I feel like God is covering me. He knows how bad I want to be an athlete because He made me this way. And finally, at the ripe old age of 39, I am going to be one!

Today, crying on the treadmill, arms lifted in worship, rejoicing with my whole heart at how far I have come, I smelled victory. It was sweaty, tired, and completely elated about what is yet to come!! Whooo HOOOOO!!