Wow!! What a great experience. Back in August when I set a goal of walking the Go! St Louis Half Marathon, I had no idea what an impact it would have on my life. Walking that 13.1 miles and raising approximately $2600 for Camp Barnabas in the process has truly been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I must confess that, as race day came near, I was a little scared of what I had gotten myself into. I was plagued by knee and foot problems in the weeks leading up to the race but I was determined to try and accomplish my goal. Race day dawned bright and early since I was suppose to be downtown at 6:15. As a walker, I was relegated to the back of the pack and, from the time the race started until I actually crossed the starting line took 19 minutes. It was a beautiful day and my training helped keep me towards the front of the walkers and with a lot of the people who alternated between running and walking. The atmosphere along the course was great and I am so grateful to my parents who spent the morning catching me at various points along the course to cheer me on. Their support both in my doing the race and my fundraising for camp meant more than I will ever be able to express to them. My months of training paid off and, for most of the race, it didn't feel like work to me. That all changed around 11.5 miles when my thoughts began to run along the lines of how badly I wanted to sit down. I plugged on though and crossed the finish line 3 hours and 5 minutes after I started. What a high it was. As my friend Becky said last week, a monster has been created as I look towards future races to participate in. I am also working towards running some of these future races and started an app on my ipod this week called Couch to 5k that helps train you to be able to run. What I am looking forward to most at this point is returning to camp on May 31st for term 1. My sister, Stacie, has also been accepted as a CIA for that term, and I can't wait to share the camp experience with her. Look back here in mid-June for my thoughts on that week.
