Midnight 10K

I've kept putting this post off because something (like work) always came up that I needed to get done.  No more!  I'm finally writing!  Not that there's anything in this post that's super exceptional that I just have to record, but it keeps hanging over my head.  Unfinished business.  So here goes: 

 

On July 3 at about 9:00 at night a few family members and I headed north about 20 miles to Dunedin to the Kiwanis Midnight Run.  I ran the 5K last year and signed up for the 10K this year.  This was my first 10K since December, which was my first one ever.  I had run 6.2 miles in training a couple times but not a lot.  I felt prepared, though.  I picked up my race packet and shirt and was able to get one that was size large.  Not XL.  Not XXL.  Not XXXL.  Just L.   

 

Do you know how happy that makes me feel?!

The 5K started a little before midnight and the 10K started about 12:30.  I began the course running with my friend Lisa, but she quickly outpaced me.  Go Lisa!  I kept running at my happy pace.  Here comes a drawbridge.  So cool to run over the metal grate and see the water directly below me!  Ahhhhh!  Downhill!  Such fun!  A breeze!  Okay, now it's flat, hot, and humid again.  Blehh!  We headed toward Honeymoon Island State Park and, just like last year, it was nice to leave the city lights behind and run toward moonlight on the water and quietness.  The 5K runners turned around at some point and the 10Kers kept on running.  We entered the park and it got even quieter.  Mmmmmmm!!!  Love it!  There was less of a breeze now, though, because of woods around us.  Still nice.  I wanted to hear the quiet so I turned off my MP3 player.  I heard frogs so I quickly turned the music back on and made sure I stayed near the middle of the road.  I don't like am irrationally terrified of frogs.  They're disgusting, ugly, gross, and creepy, and I have my three younger brothers to thank for this irrational fear.  I know frogs can't hurt me, but I'd hurt myself trying to get away from one!  I moved to the center of the road so that if one was fool enough to jump onto the road from the shoulder, I'd see it (hopefully) and have time to scream and do a funny weird little dance to get out of its way. 

Ahem.  Moving on.  I tried a couple more times to run without music but all I heard was frogs.  At one point I felt a sharp pain in my knee, but I prayed and asked God to heal and strengthen it.  The pain was gone in a few steps.  Thank You, God! 

There were luminaries lining the road since there are no light posts out on the island.  Very pretty.  At the turnaround point there was a van parked sideways with a large American flag displayed on it and they were playing Bruce Springsteen's Born In The USA (since it was July 4th).  Cool!  That gave me a little more momentum. 

 

I finished the 10K in 1:23:09 at a 13:23 pace.  That's almost a minute slower than the one I did in December, but this one was run at midnight after a full day of being awake and working (I got about a 2-hour nap in the afternoon).  I had run the first part of this course in last year's 5K, but otherwise it was unfamiliar.  I ran the December 10K course at least twice a week for a couple months in training, so I'm pleased with my results. 

Thoughts Before My First Midnight Run

Tomorrow night is my next race, the Midnight Run.  Yes, I’ll really be running at midnight.  That’ll be something new!  The 5K starts at 11:25 p.m. and ends at 12:10 a.m. so they can start the 10K.  They allot only 45 minutes for the 5K, and I ran 41:48 this morning.  I’ll really be racing the clock this time!  I’ll try to take a nap in the late afternoon and have a little bit of caffeine so I won’t be tired.  I’ve been trying to go to bed early the last month or so and was asleep by 7:00 last night (!) so my late nights are a thing of the past. 

I'd love to see you at the race.  Festivities begin at 9:30 p.m.  My race starts and ends in the Causeway Plaza Shopping Center parking lot in Dunedin.  2602 Bayshore Blvd.  That's at the corner of Bayshore Blvd and Causeway Blvd. 

Now, for two new things.  It has happened.  I put a piece of Dove dark chocolate in my mouth and let it melt and was not transported to my happy place.  It tasted fine, but it didn’t do for me what it used to.  I haven’t had any Dove dark chocolate in a week or two, so it’s not like I’m chocolated out or anything.  I guess God is changing my tastes again.  He did it with Dr Pepper; now I can hardly take more than one drink of Dr Pepper because it’s just too sweet.  Looks like he’s doing it with Dove dark chocolate too.  And you know what?  That’s okay.  God’s in control of my life, including my taste buds, and He can add or take away whatever He wants to.  J

I wrote this June 24, a little more than a week ago:

The scale isn’t moving but clothes are getting looser.  I want the scale to go down AND clothes to get looser.  Why won’t the scale go down? 

Why am I so concerned about a number no one will ever know?  Why not be happier about what people can see?  Why can’t I just be happy about looser clothes? 

People may not know the actual number, but I can report weight loss when the scale goes down.  That’s the reason - so I can have good news to share.  But I already have good news to share, and it’s not about me.  It’s about Jesus, and what He did doesn’t necessarily show in people’s physical bodies.  Many times it does, but that’s not the point.  Jesus paid the penalty for my sin by dying on the cross and then defeated death and hell forever by rising from the dead.  His victory for me was primarily for my spirit, not my body.  If it results in me shedding pounds because I’m not nearly as selfish, greedy, and indulgent as before, then great.  If it doesn’t result in that, am I still thankful and will I keep showing my thankfulness by being obedient even when the results of my obedience aren’t visible?