For the next two weeks I’m going to be sharing what I learned from the last race I did and why understanding our thoughts is so important.  This week, I am sharing the race recap and next week I will be explaining why this race was so hard and what I will hopefully be doing next time.  There will be a podcast episode that goes with both of these posts, so make sure you check that out to on your favorite platform at Be Still and Run by Alli Anne, #45 & #46

Appleseed 10k

Your Thoughts Control Your Life

Why this race?

As some of you know my goal race some year is to run the 50k Mohican Forget a PR (31 miles). 

But first I needed to run the 25k (15.5 miles) version first and that was my goal for this spring (2023).  I was so excited for it.  I had made my goal of a 3:30 at the Mo Half (13.2 miles) and was ready to tackle two extra miles on a course that was apparently much harder.

But God had other plans.

In 2019 I completely gave my life to the Lord in a sense that I would no longer live my own life, but go to Jesus and do what He asked of me. And this includes which races to run. The Mo Half last fall was directed by God, as was the full marathon (26.2 miles) around St. Mary’s Lake in Selina Ohio back in 2021. Both of these races God used in tremendous ways in my life.

When I went to sign up for the 25k this spring, I didn’t feel peace about it.  So I decided to go for the Spring Mohican half instead, of which God again said no.  I was bummed.  I love Mohican and those where the only races through the trails that I knew of. I didn’t want to run a road race.  They are pretty much flat, boring, and too easy compared to running trails.  I loved the challenge of the hills, roots, rocks, and mud!

At this point, I was still dealing with post race depression after the Mo Half, but I surrendered to the “no”that God gave.  Within a very short time, the Lord brought to my attention a 10k (6.2 miles) in Mohican and though I was bummed about running a shorter race, I was grateful it was on the trails. 

But I had no idea what God was going to take me through over the next six months.  My post race depression seemed to linger, circumstances made it almost impossible to train, things going on in my spiritual life where sapping every bit of my energy, and I had lost pretty much all my passion for running.  I had no desire to run actually.  The only thing that kept me going was knowing deep in my spirit that I was supposed to run this race.

Leading up to the big day my weekly mileage was less than half of what it should have been, my strength was lacking, my mind was weak, and my stress level was at it’s max.  I could only focus on what I could do. One step at a time.

The Race

Race day came and I was beginning to be a little anxious. I knew this was the final day before I could move forward with a project that this race included.  I knew this race had a special purpose.  I had asked for prayer and tried to focus on Christ as much as possible.

I changed shoes and headed to the tent where I’d sign up. Immediately the lady and I started talking and the fact that she remembered my name the rest of the day was one of the highlights. My soul lit up when I heard my name… someone was calling me by name and for some reason that struck me differently than it normally did.  But it wasn’t just her.  All the race volunteers seemed to be extra friendly and personable.  This was a family atmosphere.

The race director called for a meeting and one of the first things he said was that we needed to run our own race.  The 5 and 10k routes where different, but they connected in multiple places.  5kers had to follow the blue flags.  10kers where orange.  If you ended up taking the wrong path, you would get out of your race.  If you tried to follow someone else because you forgot the instructions, you would risk getting out of your race.

When the gun went off, I tried to stay towards the back, knowing that the adrenaline from all the other runners would encourage me to go out too fast, risking a burnout too early in the race.  In the first mile I tried to take it easy.  Run/walk here and there just to get warmed up. 

At mile two I began to take advantage of all the downhills… as fast as I could, because that is the best part and what I am good at!  I love sprinting down the trail hills, trying to not trip over the roots or rocks lest you fall off a cliff and kill yourself!  They are a blast!  Mile three I began to feel a little faint, but this was an almost purely downhill phase, so I took advantage of the free speed!

Mile four hit and my ears began to ring.  I felt lightheaded and considered calling the race director several times saying I was done. I had grabbed some extra water, electrolytes, and fuel at the aid station and ingested them as quickly as I safely could.  I kept looking around for any sign of people and I was alone as usual.  I had passed people on the first half because there was a lot of downhill.  But now that we were going uphill for almost a straight mile, my weakness of power hiking was showing and they began to pass me.

The last two miles of the race were the hardest. I began praying out-loud, quoting Heb. 12:1-3, imagining the suffering that Jesus went through to carry His cross – being beaten to a pulp, dehydrated, and weak, climbing that hill to Golgotha. It was during these miles that I gained an inner strength that only God could have given.  I still felt faint, but my spirit was filled and kept me going.  I threw myself on Him, because at that moment, there was no other choice.

I crossed the finish line in a state of mind, knowing that God was someone who could be trusted.  It didn’t matter how hard of a race it was. It didn’t matter how awful my training was.  He had helped me through it all and it was worth every brutal step.

During this race I learned:

• The importance of moral support.  As runners, we support each other and cheer each other on.  We are all in it together, even if we cross the finish line at different times.
• That when you fall, you can get back up and keep going. At one point going over a patch of roots, I tripped and for several strides tried to catch myself, but failing.  I landed on my knee and slid across the remaining roots.  I jumped up and went on, now filled with adrenaline which lasted long enough that I crossed the finish line displaying no fatigue!
• That if you feel like you are lost, God always promises to continue to guide us.  On two occasions I honestly thought I had taken a wrong turn.  I wasn’t sure what to do.  The first time there was a tree that had fallen across the path.  I stopped and looked for any sign of previous runners who had paved the path before me.  I figured if I tried to go around the tree that I might see another marker down the path. After falling over some limbs, I got around the tree to find a marker, showing the path was still there.  Later when I hadn’t seen a marker for some time, I began to wonder if I had taken a wrong turn. The race director’s instructions came to mind reminding me that they had promised the path was clearly marked.  So I kept going hoping to find another marker around one of the corners.  Eventually I did and once again it reminded me that God promises to lead and guide our paths, we just need to follow His instructions.
• The fellowship of Christ’s sufferings is actually encouraging because it reminds you that God is in control and we can lean all of our weight on Him for support no matter what happens!

Recovery

As I’ve mentioned before, recovery after a race is when I learn the most.  One of the biggest things I learned is that I am horribly out of shape. The race was on Saturday.  Sunday I limped around because my left ankle hurt but it was pretty much fine by the evening.  Monday I strolled two miles and was a little sore.  Tuesday I walked two miles. Wednesday was two miles of walking. Thursday I ventured out to jog a mile. And today (Friday) I was barely able to jog two miles, before doing a ten minute standing abs workout, which proved that my balance is awful and my strength has dissipated quite a bit. No wonder I fell and tripped so much during the race.

This week of recovery reminded me of why I must keep up on my workouts. 

If you don’t use it, you lose it. 

The same is true for our spiritual lives. 

If we aren’t growing towards God, we are growing away.