1st Mini Marathon: Completed!

My first mini marathon has been completed! 9 weeks of training, done. What an incredible experience.

I'll try to put into words all of the things that went on during this race but I doubt that I will express it adequately. Besides the magnitude and the amazing-ness of running with over 5,000 people, some pretty cool revelations occurred in my own little running world. I'll do my best to tell you how God inspired me and maybe it will give you some inspiration too.

My "I Run For Love" running gear!

The day of the race came. 5:00am came even quicker. Mike and I woke up in our hotel room and I popped out of bed with a crazy adrenaline rush. It was the day. As much as I tried to convince myself that day was just another day, I felt the rush of nerves. I remember those nerves well. I got them before every single soccer game for 17 years. I don't know why I thought the day of my race was going to be any different.

We got ready, ate some breakfast, grabbed all my gear and left for downtown Richmond.

We arrived for the festivities and the streets were swarmed by a sea of people. So as not to drag along the boring details of running mile to mile, I will skip to the good stuff. Just know that the first 10 miles went awesome and I was on track to finishing with a great time.

There I am!

Somewhere between the 10th and 11th mile it became apparent that my body was done. I was totally exhausted. My mind may have been tired but I could distinctly feel all of the sore, aching muscles in my entire body as well. I wasn't prepared to feel like that. I was told that the adrenaline you receive from the crowd should carry you the last three miles. It didn't work. Not for me. I began to plead with God to carry me the rest of the way, to spare me of this hardship, to take away the pain. It was then that the holy spirit began to speak to me.

"Your life was not meant to be free of pain. Your life was not meant to be easy. I never promised you any of that. I'm proud of you for making it this far. I'm proud of you for the sacrifices you have made to get here. But just because I'm proud of you doesn't mean I am going to rescue you."

Uh, I was talking about the race, Mr. Holy Spirit, not my life.

Either way, it hit me like a ton of bricks. All the years of being fed the lines that "God is going to save you" "God will make a way in all situations" "God gives good to all those that love him" came crashing down into an abyss of doubt.

Everything in my body began to hurt worse.

But just as that little shred of doubt began to pour into my heart, something happened that doesn't usually happen. I didn't sink into that abyss. I waited, I listened, and God began to tell me of how I've always done things in my life. Not in a condemning way, but in a teaching way. I began to talk in my mind as if God and I were literally having a conversation just sitting at a cafe sipping lattes.

"Your whole life, Mandi, you've done what is easy. You've been mediocre. You've never sacrificed what is necessary to do something great. You've been given talents and even though you've used them for my glory, you've never used them to the best of your ability. Remember basketball? Why did you stop playing after high school? Because you loved soccer better? No. Because you weren't good at it? No. Then why?"

"Because, God (insert snobby, sarcastic voice), I wasn't a natural at it. I didn't want to do the work that was necessary to play basketball at a higher level. At a better level."

"Remember college? Sure, you were generally an 'A' student but you could have done better, gotten better scholarships and grants, had less debt when it was all over, if you had made the sacrifices of studying any kind of a priority."

Event after event flashed through my mind, reminding me of the things I had done half-way. Friendships, jobs, parenting...I never once felt like God was cutting me down, or saying shame on you, but I felt like he was giving me the chance to remember that as his follower, his disciple, I have a responsibility to make sacrifices, to do things to the best of my ability with the things He has given me.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." -Matthew 16:24

Suddenly, a picture of Jesus' sacrifice began to tie into the very race I was running. My feet began to hurt and I could feel myself remember.

"My legs hurt. Your legs hurt? Really? How much do you think Jesus' legs hurt as the soldiers slashed them with whips, time and time again?"
"My arms hurt."
"Your arms hurt? Really? How much do you think Jesus' arms hurt carrying a cross miles and miles to Calvary?"

"My feet hurt."
"Your feet hurt? Really? How much do you think Jesus' feet hurt to have a gigantic nail driven through them?"

I realized what no Christian wants to hear but every one of them needs to know. Being a Christian is going to hurt. Bearing a "cross" is going to be painful. Doing God's will is going to call for sacrifice. But he promises to walk beside us, sometimes carry us, through it all. Giving us hope and encouragement in the most desolate places of our existence.

Coming down the last stretch of the course

I'd like to tell you that after that revelation, I finished the race with a 7 minute mile, a smile on my face, waving at the crowd as I passed them. I didn't. And I'm kinda glad that those last two miles were a sort of hell for me. Because I did finish the race. I pushed myself as hard as my legs and my mind could go. I left absolutely everything on that road. And, quite frankly, I hope at the end of my time here on Earth I can say the same thing about the way I lived my life from this point forward...

I finished!!!

My biggest fan! Mike was such a huge source of support and encouragement through this whole process. I wouldn't have kept up my motivation without him. Love you, baby!

Thank you to all of you who supported me in this mini marathon. I can't even tell you how much I appreciated your love and encouragement through all my training and especially during the race!

For those of you that want to know....I placed 2255 out of 5548 participants, I placed 961 out of 3278 women and I placed 189 out of 644 in my age group. I finished the race in 1 hour 54 minutes and 45 seconds.


If you would still like to donate towards this fundraiser go here.

from joy to work

I haven't been keeping up very well the last week or so on documenting my training journey...partially because its been a bit crazy around here and partially because all this running has become work.

I ran 8 miles on Tuesday and enjoyed myself for the most part until the last mile. There's something about knowing that you are almost done that does something to you psychologically. As I passed two different friends' houses, I considered stopping at both for water. Even though I wasn't really thirsty. I was proud I didn't stop but it made the last mile almost worse. My right knee suddenly started to hurt. My right ankle next. Then I had a cramp. Then my head began to pound. Where were all these "injuries" on the first 7 miles? Could our minds really be that connected to our bodies that because in that last mile I became mentally tired, physically I became tired too? Surely not. Or maybe...

Up until this last week I have loved every second of training for this mini. I loved waking up and putting my running gear on and starting up my iShuffle. I looked forward to sounds of Jason Mraz, Jay-Z, Chris Tomlin and Paramore. Up until this last week, it has been my joy to run...not work. So what was different?

I began to realize that everyday I was getting on the scale. Everyday, fretting over what food was going to put me over the calorie intake level. Everyday, analyzing my body in the mirror and wondering why everything wasn't flat yet...all of my training became about losing weight and looking good. It became totally about me. And that's why I hated it.

The first 6 weeks of my training was all about the people I do life with. Minino in the Hole who I thrived on spending time with. Yajaira in our neighborhood and our weekly coffee talks. Fernando across the street, such a good heart, just caught up in addiction. I'm training for this mini marathon to raise money in order to have the ability to continue to live here. To come in contact with new people seeking someone who will just listen and hear their story. To do whatever it is God will have me do on this island I have grown to love and cherish.

My training can't be about how many pounds I lose or if my shirts are fitting me better. It has to be about them. About the people who have molded me and shaped me into a way different person than who I used to be four years ago. Without them, I'd still be floundering.

I have to remember, that I Run For Love.

On Tuesday, this was my big run of 8 miles. I ran this route twice and then a little more to make it about 8.1 miles.

3.84 Miles/6.17 Km

After running the 12k on Sunday, I took yesterday off to let my body rest. My legs felt pretty sore...even through today. But it felt really good to hit the pavement again. I did a little 3.84 mile run and ran it in 38:10. I didn't feel tired or out of breath or anything. It just felt good. I probably could have pushed myself a little harder to get a better time. That seems to be the theme these days. But when you run by yourself, its hard to have the motivation. I find it really hard to gauge what is a good hard push and pushing too hard so that I gas out at the end. I think I'm going to have to push myself a little harder either way to work up some more endurance. I'm having an amazing time. Just really enjoying it all.


Here's where I ran today!

My first 12k

Today, several of our G.O. Staff ran the Santiago 12k! What a cool experience! I thought it would be good practice for my upcoming mini and it definitely was. The race was supposed to start at 9am...didn't get started until closer to 10. So you can imagine the Dominican sun pounding down on us as many were finishing around 11am.

Although I finished my goal (which was to not stop running and finish the race) I was happy with my time. 7.4 miles in 1:14:25. But let me tell you, there was definitely more than once that I was trying to find an excuse to stop. It was blistering hot. I was thirsty. I felt like I was running forever. I totally feel like I was more mentally tired than physically. I'm going to have to try and work on that before my mini. I never want to quit because my mind is tired.

Either way, it was a great experience. Besides the obvious of being able to practice and experience my first race but also because I got to see a whole sub-culture of dominican runners that I never knew about. They are serious about running. It was cool just to learn something new about the country I live in.

Audrey, Jen and I...the G.O. Gals running in the 12K

Running...and happy!

SO glad it was over with :)

Audrey...my inspiration! If it weren't for her, I would have never thought I could do this! Love you, Aud!

Here's the course we ran today! It was great.

5.35 Miles

My run today felt really good. My goal was to run for about an hour (I ran 56:49) and try and get at least 5 miles in (I ran 5.35 miles). My legs are doing super good, I don't really get too tired. But today my left deltoid was cramping big time. I've never been a runner (at least not without a soccer ball at my foot) so I don't know if I'm running wrong or what but about 10 minutes in, it was not in good shape. I might do a little research and see if I can find and fix whatever I'm doing incorrectly to cause the cramping.

And on a side note: I got hit by a truck today on my run. Nothing serious but it definitely could have been. I was minding my own business, running on the sidewalk, and a guy started backing out of a business without looking behind him. I had no clue what happened at first, just that something huge ran into me. But when I stopped and looked back I saw him. He just casually backed out and went along his merry way like nothing even happened. Jerk.


Check out my run today!

4ish Miles

My schedule didn't allow me to run yesterday and strangely enough, I really missed it. It's become a part of my routine, a part of my lifestyle and being the routine-oriented person I am, if its not in that daily schedule I feel a bit out of whack.

So when I took off this morning bright and early I could feel the blood pumping through my veins excitedly. Had Hillsong in spanish playing in my iShuffle and set my watch to go.

I did repeats today. Never knew what those were until I started training for this thing. But I jogged for about 10 minutes then I ran a mile as fast as I could. Then jogged another 10 minutes then ran a mile as fast as I could. Then jogged home. I did my mile times at the Leon Jimenez park just so I could keep track of them better. My first mile was 7:45 and my second mile was 7:05. Not bad for an (almost) 29-year old mother of two! Finished 4.1 miles in 43:10.

Check out my run today! I ran from our house to the park, did my repeats at the marker "Centro Leon," then from the park back to our house.

1st Cross-Training session

Well today I was supposed to not run but do some other type of aerobic exercise for 30-60 minutes. So my friend Jen came over and we did Tae Bo....holy cow. Billy Blanks kicked my behind. Forget Insanity. Forget P90X. Just get a little Tae Bo up in there and you'll be good. I'm glad I only have to do THAT once a week! I have running repeats tomorrow! We'll see how that goes!

3.5 Miles

Welp. This has been my hardest run so far. I think I'm still very sore from the almost five mile run yesterday and I didn't properly stretch after my last run...but today, for all intensive purposes, sucked.

I think I was ready to quit after about five minutes of running. I ran a very slow pace. 3.5 Miles in 35:15. Although I reached my goal of doing a 10:00 mile, I felt like my whole body was ready to give out on me. The other days I would start naming off the kids in The Hole to help motivate me but today I couldn't even do that. Yesterday God used a song to motivate me but when Jay Z came through my headphones it didn't light my behind on fire. But...I didn't stop running. And I'm going to cling to that. If I keep the purpose of my runs at the forefront and keep all the other things I am NOT running for behind me (i.e. weight loss, competitiveness, etc.) then all that matters is that I run the 13 miles and that I cross the finish line on November 13th.

Switched up the route a little today.

4.7 Miles Down

Today I ran 4.77 Miles...I think this may be the farthest I've ever purposefully run in my life! I finished in 50:00. A little over a 10:00 mile. Seems kinda slow to me but I keep trying to remind myself that I'm a mom of two now, not an in-shape soccer player from 10 years ago. I hope to get my time down over the next few weeks of training, though.

With about a mile to go, I wanted to quit. I don't even think my body was as tired as my mind was. But just as I was talking myself into stopping and walking, these words came through my headphones:

"I trust in you. I trust in you.

I believe You're my Healer.

I believe You are all I need.

I believe You're my portion.

I believe You're more than enough for me.

Jesus You're all I need."

And then, the words I needed to hear right then:

"Nothing is impossible for you.

Nothing is impossible.

Nothing is impossible for you.

You hold my world in your hands."

How cool is it, that even doing something like running, God knew that I needed Him right then to spur me on? Because I'm not running this race to get in shape. I'm not running this race to dig up some old competitive feelings I used to have in the old days. I'm not running this race to prove to anyone that I've still got it. I'm running this race for Minino, and Simon, and Yajaira, and Wilson and all the kids in the Hole. And all the pastors and Christian workers I've grown to love and respect here.

God knows there's a different purpose...and quite frankly, He's got my back on this one.

i ran this loop today, twice.

MMF PARTNER TOOL -

Day 1 of Official Training

Today marks the first day of my official training for the mini marathon. Although I started running about 4 weeks ago and only decided to run the mini about 2 weeks ago, today I signed up for the race, paid my fees and ran my first run on my training schedule. I ran a 2.77 mile interval run which basically means I jogged some, ran hard some and sprinted some in an effort to start increasing my endurance. Tomorrow I have to run five miles. This will be the longest distance I have ever run in my life!!!!

Check out where I ran in Santiago!