1st Big Race Week

"Your born crying, and everyone around you smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you will be smiling and everyone around you will be crying." Anonymous

So the question of the day is how are you living your life, when that day comes, what will people say about you? Will they say you lived a good life? A complete life? A life where you served God and your brothers and sisters?

I know that's a deep question, but it's something I ask myself everyday. Am I living my life to the fullest? Am I living today like it's my last day on earth? I try, but it's tough. You have to take things one step at a time and trust Jesus to help you do the right thing.

Catching Up

The last time I wrote to my blog it was the end of August and I felt like I had really hit a wall with my training. Not to mention my sister was really going through some tough times. Well, I really had to pray about this, so everyday in September I prayed to God that he would take care of Kellye and help her get better and that he would help me with my running.

Well, I'm happy to say that he works in wonderful ways. Kellye is doing much better and is off the pain medication. Of course, she has her bad days but I noticed that she is not spending as much time in bed as before. She is out hiking and walking her dog Casey. She still has MS but she so determined to live her on life on her terms, it's amazing.

For me, September was tough and at times it was tough to stay motivated, but then I think about Kellye and how she deals with MS everyday and that she has such a strong will to say "I'm not going to let you beat me MS!! You will not win."

So I kept chugging along with my longest run being 12 miles. My mileage for this month stayed in the 70's but I know that this month and next, that number will go up.

I have been running for a long time, and at my lowest point this month I finally figured it out!! I needed to turn it over to God. One day when I really down, I was talking to my wife Ginger, and she told me, "You have to let go Rich, God has to run for you!! Let him take you through each step."

You know what? She was right. I finally figured out, I can't control my running, only God knows how good I will feel on that day. All I can do is do the right things and use my experience. That means eating, staying hydrated and stretching after every workout. Running hard on days I'm supposed to run hard and easy on the days I'm supposed to run easy.

So from then on, things changed. Now it's October and we are 16 weeks away from the Marathon. It will be here before you know it!!

This week is a big, I finally get to race. Granted it's only 10 miles but it's racing 10 miles not running 10 miles.

"A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways they’re capable of understanding." Steve Prefontaine

Racing is what I train for, its what we train for!! This summer was brutal, but the racing season is finally here!! Yahoo!!