Think Pink!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. I am sure you have noticed since practically everything in Schnuck's in pink. I am not joking. Here is a list of all things pink or pink ribbons that I have noticed in just the past couple of days.

1. Eggland's best eggs have pink ribbons stamped on each and every egg in the dozen

2. Chicken sausage at Schnuck's is in a pink package with a little pink ribbon on the corner

3. Pink reusable grocery bags--I purchased several of these last October

4. Tonight on the news I just saw a tattoo parlor is tattooing pink ribbons, for free!

I think awareness is great. That little pink ribbon is a universal sign and every woman knows what it means. Some know what it means more than others, but we all are aware of breast cancer and it's mean, ugly take over of women both young and old. It does not discriminate.

When you see this ribbon how does it make you feel? Does it make you want to go to the shower and do your BSE? If you don't know what that is, you should! Or does it make you pick up the phone and schedule your mammogram? Does it make you want to wear pink bunny ears and run a 5K in the St. Louis heat?

Today is October 21st. This is the day I lost my mom to breast cancer. She was 40. I miss her. When I see that pink ribbon I think of her.

My run

After months of training today was the big day. Since racing has become more of a mental game for me than anything else, I decided to play it extra cool. Race? What race? I am just getting up at 4:30 to go running....yeah right! Well, it worked!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Along with prayer, music, more mental games, cheering from friends and family, perfect weather, God's divine intervention with my bathroom routine, a little help from my Garmin and my Sir Isaac Newtons!

Check this out

Yep! Let me explain these little boxes to all you folk out there who don't own a Garmin or don't run. Today I ran a half marathon (13.1 miles) or as the little box on the bottom left displays 13. 29 miles. This is because I like to round corners, etc. Either way this distance was from start line to finish line. And the box on the top left displays my time. That's right folks, I did it. I met my goal of finishing in 2 hours. My "official"time on the website is 2:00:18, but luckily the Garmin does not do seconds. And the bottom right box displays my average pace of 9:03 minutes per mile.

I am so satisfied.
And so tired.

Thanks to everyone who has prayed for me and encouraged me in little and big ways for this race. My friend Melanie has been encouraging me (and the rest of our GT study group) to look for windows in my day/life where I can see God's delight in me. Today was one of those days. I did not walk and I did not have any degrading thoughts in my head. I did not allow myself to beat myself up when I got tired or to even allow myself to go there. When I race, my experience has been that I have built it up so much in my head that I have to meet a certain goal or time, that I have made that my focus. Not on enjoying myself or other runners or just enjoying the experience. Melanie kept telling me to just have fun. And although she was not there this time I had her voice in my head and as I was running across the Mississippi river I actually looked at it and saw it's beauty. I enjoyed the other runners as I would choose one out of my pack to try to pace with. And I enjoyed the crowd. The signs were funny and I laughed.

One said, "Run faster. I just farted."

Another said, "If you stop this baby cries" It was a dad with a stroller.

Overall, the race crowd is a fun bunch!

On mile eleven I saw my family and Scott shouted "finish strong!" Those are great words. I mean that is really all any of us want out of life. We just want to finish strong. I took those words to heart and ran faster. The stretch to the finish seemed like forever. I could see the balloons, but they were very far away. Then I saw these 2 ladies that also had the same goal of finishing in 2 and I chased them. I had heard them talking and they motivated me. I wanted what they wanted and I heard one of them say "Oh we will finish this in 2!" That was what I needed.

There are a lot of reason that I run. To win the race is not one of them. Some people might find it silly to keep doing races when you are not even close to placing in your age group. However, I think signing up for the race is what keeps you motivated. And if you let the race be fun...you will always have a good run!!