I did it! (almost 2 months ago)

Almost 2 months ago, I did something really crazy. I warned y'all in this post on February 26th.

I finished the Disney Princess Half-Marathon. With 2 equally crazy girls. Alisa, on the left, who was 5 months pregnant at the time and Kelly, on the right, who flew out from CA to do this with me!

 

We each had a tutu to fit our personalities. Mine was very full with sparkly ribbon and lots of beads (top left). Kelly's (bottom left) was definitely non-traditional and more Tinkerbell colors than princess colors. Alisa's was pretty classic with soft pinks and white tulle. Her length was really long and classy looking.

I was 10th from last in my age division and the slow walker bus was nipping at my heels, but I did finish the race. And I don't care that I was almost dead last. I finished it. And that is what was important to me.

Along the way, I tweeted like crazy. I had to do something to keep my mind off the fact that I ought to be at home sleeping, but instead, I got up at 4 am to walk 13.1 miles with a few thousand other princesses.

I gotta tell you though, despite a potty line 50 deep and 50 wide, the experience was a complete and total act of worship for me. As I stood in line and reflected on my complete lack of training, I realized that I would not be able to finish the race with my own strength and power. I was only going to finish this race if I walked like a real princess, like the daughter of the greatest king there ever was.

At 5:20 am while I waited for our corral to take off, I tweeted:

My only prayer this am is not that I would be safe & well, but that Christ would be glorified with me. #disneyhalf

Then, moments later, I realized my typo and tweeted this:
I meant IN me, no glory for me - its all about Him this morning!


And the race was all about Him. Every moment of those long 13.1 miles, my mind was on the one who finished the race for me. I sang praise songs in my head. I quoted every piece of scripture I could remember. The old hymns from my childhood churches came back to me. My head was FULL of God's word and His songs.

Then, during the last half mile or so, I just couldn't keep it in my head any more. I started shouting verses and encouragement to all the women around me. That bus was right behind us and I felt like we were a team, pushing one another to finish the race. 

At one point, two-tenths of a mile from the end, the lady in front of me was wearing a shirt that said:

1980: Brain surgery

2011: Half-Marathon

Praise God for life!

And it hit me hard. That was the first time I cried the entire race as I shouted out to her that I did praise God for life! Then she and her friends hooked arms with me and we carried on for several hundred feet like that as she shared her story in a brief, sweaty moment.

Finishing this half-marathon was, physically, the hardest thing I had ever done. Yes, even harder than giving birth. But God gave my legs the power to cross that finish line.

My final tweet of the race was at 11:20 am and I wrote:

I made it in Christ's strength. There was no other way. I lay my medal at His feet. #disneyhalf

I don't plan to ever sign up for another half-marathon again. This one was enough of an experience to last me an entire lifetime!