Thansgiving Day 5K Turkey Dash ~ Katy, Texas

Thanksgiving Day: Kellie, Trent and I ran the Turkey Dash 5K in Katy, Texas! WOO HOO!! That was so much fun and exciting!!! I loved running with them! We had a blast!! (Y'ALL DID AWESOME!!)

I started training for it about 8 wks. before the race, and only trained up to 2 miles, so I was not sure if I would be able to run the whole way... But, when we got there we prayed and asked the Lord to be with us and help us..

I was so nervous because I did not know what to expect, because I had never run a race before... At first Trent (my 13yr. old) was going to run at the front of the group, but then he came back there to run with us.. (We were almost at the very end of the group..)

Anyway - we started running, and I wanted to video a little with my phone, so Trent helped me with that and I captured a little of our run... Then one of my friends from Indiana texted me while we were running.. And guess what, you can text and run at the same time!! (Not very well, but it can be done! hee hee!)

One of my favorite parts of the race was at the half way mark.. They had cups of water for the runners! That was so exciting for many of us first time runners, BECAUSE you got to drink the water they gave you and THROW DOWN the cup like you always see in marathons!! We felt like "for real runners" and wish we had gotten it on film!

My most favorite part was: That Trent and I got to do this together... Trent can run a lot faster than me, but he chose to stay with me the whole time... I told them at the beginning, that I was not trying to win this race, I just wanted to complete it, and my goal was to run the whole time.. So, I ran at a slow and steady pace... For a 13 yr. old competitive boy, that was amazing that he chose to run with me instead of compete! It was amazing!

As we were running one of my shoes came untied!! I was told that I should stop and tie it... I said: "If Lance Bass can dance with one shoe, I can run with my shoe untied!" (I love Dancing with the Stars!) Plus, I just felt like it was a distraction from the enemy to stop or his way of making me take my mind off of my goal! Nope, I kept on running and I prayed too, so the Lord got me through it! Thank You Lord!

It was so very foggy, and as we were getting closer, you could not tell.. We did not know how much farther we had to go, but then..... People were on each side of the street yelling: "Keep going, you don't have much farther!" "It is just right around the corner.." "Good job, don't stop!" They were just very encouraging! They did not even know us, but they stood out there and encouraged us, and we could not even see with our own eyes the end, but they knew and came along side and gave us words of encouragement...

I just started thinking about the Lord and the body of Christ and how we can't always see, but there are others who can, that we may not even know, but somehow they show up on our path and encourage us and cheer us on... Everyone in that race ran/walked it differently... We all had the same goal... Some walk/ran, some ran fast, some slow:), some ran half, and walked the rest.. We even saw one person laying down on the side.. I pray that she is ok...

Everyone runs their "race" differently... Some are slow, some just get it and never seem to struggle, but we all need encouragement and we all need to run together! When I was running with this big group of people it was so much easier than running by myself... I had to fight through thoughts of doubt that I could run the whole way, when I was by myself... When you "run" with others, it makes you feel stronger!

We ran the whole way, we only slowed down to get the water!!! It was awesome!!!

1 Corinthians 9:24-27: 24 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should.