Half Marathon- Part I

Since this was my first half marathon, I have decided to write about this all week. :) I have a lot of words to share about this event so why not spread it out all week long?

Experiencing this race with my spouse was incredible. We both were experiencing the same feelings about the race. How will that ankle, knee or leg feel at mile 10? How will the water stops go with the gels? Can we time it right? How will we run our goal even when it is congested and hard to get around all the runners? How will we handle the heat? Running in 74 degree weather is MUCH harder than running when it's cold. The temperature forcasted for the day had us both concerned with hydration. Our minds were both filled with so many questions!

But the night before we had Jeremy's first Christmas party with the new company he began working for last April. They got everyone in the company a room in Dallas (5 miles from our race), especially for the out of towners like us, and the party was at the owner's house just down the road. Jeremy worked for UPS for 13 years and we never had a Christmas party for work. I was excited for him and excited to see all these guys interact. The wives were so sweet and finally I met Jeremy's BOSS, Mark. Several times I heard different men, including his boss and the owner talk about how BLESSED they were to have Jeremy and all the guys in the Austin office. The food was amazing and so was the house! :) Before we sat down to our dinner, one of the guys in the Dallas office said a prayer. That right there made me so excited! It was such a sweet prayer over all the employees and their families. I sat there that night with my mouth wide open in amazement. This is why God brought us to Austin. This is why! My husband LOVES his job and they LOVE him. WOW GOD! WOW! After the prayer, the owner who is only thirty years old, Austen, got up and spoke a few words. He talked about how the economy is bad for everyone but the dry wall business maintained and even GREW! He said something that made me so proud of my husband. "As you can see, there are a lot more people in the room this year and next year we will have even more." EVERYONE began to cheer and clap! All of those NEW people in the room this year are because they expanded and opened up a new location in Austin where Jeremy is the Operations Manager! I am SO PROUD OF MY MAN!

We prayed for years that Jeremy would be able to leave UPS and start a brand new career. We had no idea how it would happen but it has and these men my husband work with and for, are his friends. This company has changed our lives. We have been given more of a community through his job than we have ever even found in a church. My husband for the first time in his life has a best friend and now his wife and I have become friends. It just blows my mind!

Because of the race, we had to leave early. EVERYONE was wishing us good luck and Austen told us to call him when were done so we could meet for lunch and drinks. We met him and his girlfriend right after the race at Humperdinks and spent two hours laughing and talking. Then I got the opportunity to tell Austen how thankful I am for the company . I explained how Jeremy is coaching Josiah's basketball team and never would have been able to do that while at UPS. I explained how happy my husband is and how incredible it is to see my husband fulfilled for the very first time. I told him how I prayed for many, many years that this would happen and I thanked him.

I thank God almost daily for Jeremy's old job. It was there he found favor with two men who knew drywall like the back of their hand. They took him in and taught him everything and then took him with them to the new company!

I love what God is doing! He is blessing us so much and it's because my husband is a hard working, filled with integrity, honest, loyal and God fearing man. HE ROCKS! I am the luckiest, most blessed wife in the world to have the man I do!!!

And then it was time to run the race so we went back to the hotel and Kelly Ann met us there and spent the night with us so we could all be at the race early. When we stepped outside the hotel, it was then we noticed the WIND!

As we stand outside the American Airlines Center, waiting for the doors to open at 6:30am, the runners are all talking about the wind. I heard over and over again, "This is the worst possible running conditions. The wind is going to be bad."

Oh crap!

Thankfully, I never skipped a long run even when the wind was at insane speeds. I kept telling myself, "I trained for this. I can do this."

And the doors opened!