I'm a little SOREy I didn't train harder...

Josie and I, all smiles pre-race

As some of you may know I've been half-heartedly training for the Fargo Half Marathon that just took place here in Fargo yesterday. Josie, one of my disciples and closest friends is an avid runner and didn't have to try too hard to get me to sign up back in February and join her on race day. One of the biggest blessings of the semester for me has been morning runs many times (although probably still not enough to be fully ready...) each week with Josie and exploring a good chunk of north Fargo on foot--and even some of south Fargo as well!

We decided to have a little extra fun with the race so we whipped up some matching t-shirts, bought some extra loud matching shorts and even matched right up to the sparkly headbands! We had Fr. Cheney in mind when we wrote, "I pass you, you owe me a dollar," on the back of our shirts because that's Father's promise for the annual Newman Center Bike Race (you pass Fr. Cheney, he pays you a dollar. And he pays up too, I've seen it!).

So close to the finish, I had one thing on my mind (the bathroom).

As the title of my post indicates, I'm sitting down the day after the race and to be quite honest, my legs just straight up hurt. Our goal was to finish in under two hours, and at each mile marker when I checked my watch we were keeping perfectly on pace with healthy nine-minute miles! At each one we were a little more surprised to see the pace constancy than the last, especially after mile 8 when I think both of us were feeling pretty much kaput (Def: broken and useless, no longer effective). Josie's positive energy definitely kept me going and we sprinted--or at least it felt like we were sprinting--right down the home stretch and crossed the finish line looking like this... or maybe it was more like this.

We zigzagged our way through the Fargodome and out into open air ASAP, took a few post-race photos and then we zoomed over to the Breen family home to help out with her younger brother, Sam's, Eagle Scout and graduation party! I think that day truly earns a Fargo "uff-da!" and we're already planning for next year, soreness and all.

Lastly, one of the best parts of the run (after the warm-up prayer, which was a great way to start off an event with thousands of people) are the medals they gave each of the finishers. Proudly stated on the band is not a quote from a famous athlete or a "Congratulations! You didn't die!" but rather a line straight out of the scriptures:

Managing some victory smiles post-race

"Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." 

A quote applicable to all of us every day of our lives, Hebrews 12:1 reminds us that each day is a preparation of the life to come, and our eternal home--Heaven--and we need to persevere through the tougher times, run with endurance and keep our eyes fixed on Christ!

I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon (somewhat begrudgingly), but duty calls and I'm off to keep training for another year in the mission fields! 

Peace and God bless!
Kelsey Marie