Sunday morning, I got up at 6:30 AM. I needed to be at the starting line before 9. Downtown Tampa is about a thirty minute drive for me, so I planned to leave my house about 7:30. I quickly donned my race gear and ate my pre-race breakfast of peanut butter toast and a banana. I drank a lot of water and my nerves began to rise. A quick check of all my gear (running belt, headphones, chews, etc) and I was on my way.
Lining up for the race was awesome. I met other Team Freedom members and began to get a little overwhelmed at the sheer number of people. I put myself behind the 15 minute pacer knowing that I'd be slower than that.
The race started. Then I had to use the little girls room. I really had to go otherwise I would have passed. Port-o-johns are not my friend. After I left the bathroom my bluetooth went out on my headphones. I slowed down to a fast walk and tried to fix it. No go. About a mile later I was able to slow down again and restart my bluetooth. That was annoying. It was really distracting to run without music.
Finally, about 2.5 miles in, we rounded the turn to come back up Bayshore. Then the heat HIT, hard. I was really thankful for that hydration stop that came soon after. At one point there was water spraying over the road. I ran straight to that.
Around 3 miles I was dying. The day before I had never run 3 miles then tried to run 5 the next day. I usually let myself recover. Then the Team Freedom Run Mix had someone talking--I can't even remember who it was--he said that any pain you are feeling right now is minimal compared to those we are running for. That inspired me and I pressed on.
I crossed that finish line and threw my hands in the air. The announcer said "Team Freedom" coming across the line. As I walked across the Platt Street bridge, I received my metal and bottle of water Thank the Lord for the water, and the gatorade! Then I ran into some other Team Freedom members who congratulated me. I returned the well wishes and got one of them to take a picture of me. We talked a bit and then I went on to go to the runner food and beverage line.
As I walked under the Convention Center to go to the food line, it hit me. The emotions overcame me. I realized in that moment what I had done.
One year ago, I was in utter agony from a shoulder injury resulting from health issues I had due to stress. One year ago I couldn't do the dishes, wash the laundry or anything else, much less run. Then here I was realizing I had done over 8 miles in two days. The tears flowed because the Lord allowed me to overcome my injury.
Then there are the 35 million human beings enslaved around the world. I raised money and ran for them. I did something for those who can't do something for themselves. The tears flowed because I was able to do this. Thank you Lord for this opportunity.
Then there were all the people praying for me. Just before I started running, I texted a friend from my Bible Fellowship class. My class prayed for me. I was tagged on facebook from other people telling me they were praying for me. The tears flowed because all these people were praying for ME, an out-of-shape teacher in her late 30's who decided to say yes to Jesus. I'm not worthy of all of this, but the Lord put these people in my life.
Then there were the people who donated to my cause. Some were family, some friends and one person I've never even met. Those people believed enough in my abilities that they were willing to pledge the funds so I could run for those not free to run...yet. I ran with their names written on ribbons that I tied to my shoes. The tears flowed because these people believed enough in me to make this happen.
Then there's Team Freedom. 200 people who said yes to Jesus and chose to run. I only knew two other people on the team before all of this happened. But that didn't stop people standing on the sidelines and yelling "Go Team Freedom!" as I passed. No one looked at me and said "she doesn't look like a runner--and a 16 minute pace, you gotta be kidding me". We were all equal. All the same. All running together for freedom. The tears flowed because if that's not a piece of heaven on earth, I don't know what is.
This blog is just the start of chronicling my journey on Team Freedom and my opportunity to write about what's next. I'm beyond grateful for Team Freedom and that I got to do this. All the glory to God. For without Him, I wouldn't have even been able to lace up my shoes.
