1:29:34

I ran 8 miles today. Really. It took me 26 seconds short of an hour and a half.

I started out slow with 11:10 minute miles, thinking that I'd speed up at the halfway point and again closer to the end. But although my effort increased greatly, my speed didn't! I felt like I was going faster, but my second half was only thirty seconds shorter than my first half. I had nothing left in me to increase my speed.

I didn't bring music and relied on self-talk and the beautiful route (on Summit and the Mississippi River Blvd) to distract me. I kept repeating how far I had left to myself, and how far I had come. The last two and a half miles started to get pretty hard. The last two seemed interminable. Then I made a mistake in my distance reckoning and realized I had an extra half-mile to go that I thought I'd already run! I was feeling pretty low.

Then lo and behold, what to my wondering eyes should appear - but a rusty white van, with my family dear! Isaac had loaded up the girls and driven to find me, yelling "Go, Mama, go!" out the window. It made all the difference.

That last mile and a half still lasted forever. It was really tough. But seeing my family, hearing them cheer, and getting to run a block or two with Elizabeth helped my motivation a ton. I didn't have any extra speed to add, but I was able to finish steady with a smile on my face. I felt like a million bucks once my little fan club joined me.

How often is our spiritual walk like that? It feels long, and lonely, and interminable. We're not sure we can keep going. Then someone comes along side of us and cheers us on, and we find the strength to finish. Can you encourage anyone like that today?