Thankful for the Gift

As I sit here tonight (Saturday), I have just finished my assignments for the week and had something on my mind.  Over the last couple of weeks, I have thought a lot about this gift.  The gift that I have been given and how sometimes how I need to see it from a different perspective.  I have thought about this the last few runs that I have done since the marathon.

As Jeff and I were mingling around the lobby of the hotel in Huntsville before the start of the marathon, we see a guy come in the front door in a wheelchair.  I can't remember exactly what Jeff said but said something to effect of having a different perspective.  And it does!!!  I have thought many times how fortunate I am able to run.

I just needed to write this and I hope that the next time you see a person in a wheelchair, a blind person, or a person that has lost an arm or a leg, that you will look at yourself and consider how fortunate you are.  Sometimes we get so caught up in ourselves that we forgot how things could be and then God puts a few of these people in our paths to remind us that it isn't all about us.

Totals for 2013

This past year was an awesome year for me!  I didn't run many races but the ones I did run were great.  I ran three 5Ks, two 10Ks, a 4 miler, and a marathon.  I set new PRs in both of the 10Ks and the most challenging race was the marathon.

Since the marathon, I have ran 47.3 miles and have actually ran faster.  On New Year's Day (yesterday), I ran with Team Corinth from downtown and around the Coke 10K course.  I started a little early and then made a detour from the Coke course so I could stretch it out so I could get in 8 miles for the first day of 2014.  It was the best run that I've had in a long while and my fastest at an 11:08 pace.

Here are my totals for 2013...

Total miles:  970.00
Total time:  7 days 19 hours 17 minutes 9 seconds
Average pace:  11:26 per mile
Total runs:  124

Total All-time miles:  2504.04

Thank you all for being a part of my journey this past year and for reading my blog.  It's not always easy to keep putting one foot in front of the other but the journey is well worth it.  Hope you had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!