Day 79...

Sweet Lord of all Creation! Hallelujah!! 20 miles. Done. In your face, snow/wind/ice/traffic/treadmill/pain! My God is bigger than you all!! Yee haw!! :) :) Man, this feels good.

I love getting the long runs out of the way on Saturday. It means that I don't have to battle pre-run anxiety all day Saturday. I can get it conquered first-thing and enjoy the rest for the afternoon and all day on Sunday. The only drawback is that I don't get to run with my girls when I go out on Saturday. But there were a few conflicts that were going to keep us apart this Sunday, so I went for it today. Praise the Lord!

The run itself was interesting. The weather was atrocious. The wind was pretty killer: straight out of the north at 20 mph. Honestly, I think some of the gusts were more like 30 mph. Maybe that's just because I was being pistol-whipped by them. haha! Either way, I endured it for as long as I could, but at the halfway mark, I was in such pain and misery that I had to take it inside. The tendonitis was reacting poorly to the hills, traffic was picking up, there were no sidewalks, it was starting to sleet and the wind was making the pace take a hit, and I really wanted to run a negative split for training purposes. So, I headed back to the apartment and did the final 9.5 on the treadmill and watched the first half of the UNC/Mississippi State NIT game.

I did try something totally new today, though. For the outdoor part of the run, I decided to use the time on the road as a prayer walk (run, in this case, obviously). I made a prayer list before I went out the door of what I would pray for each mile. Wow. Talk about running with purpose! What an awesome, awesome, awesome time! The miles FLEW by as I was so focused on calling on the Lord intentionally for specific things and people.

I've recently been challenged about the spiritual discipline of solitude. Just plain getting away from everything and allowing the Lord to communicate with me. It's so hard to do that with our dependency on electronics. Why is it so hard to turn off a cell phone? Why is there always something to check online? Why am I so afraid of silence that I have to have music on constantly? I tell you what. . . This run really reminded me how important it is to remove ourselves from distractions on a regular basis and get in position to hear from the Lord.

Question: How powerful do you believe prayer really is? If you and I truly believed that James 5:16 was true, and that the prayer of the righteous was powerful and effective, wouldn't we use it as more than a last resort? Wouldn't we use it as the first line of attack and defense? Man, we are so self-righteous sometimes.

I sent out a prayer e-mail this week for people to pray specifically for healing on my right foot. At first I felt guilty and ashamed for asking. I seem to ask for prayers for running injuries a lot. But then it hit me...God has spared me from so many injuries. He's healed me in such amazing ways. I ask for prayer. People pray. God heals. I don't think that's a coinscidence. Duh. That's what the Word says we are to do. Only the enemy would try and tell me that I shouldn't ask for prayer. So, annoying or not, I'm going to continue to ask for prayers for healing when my body reacts in pain. Because the prayers of my brothers and sisters are powerful and effective! :) And I am learning that I need them more than I will ever know. . .

Speaking of prayers...
Prayer requests:
-For healing on the right foot. Arch pain and tendonitis.
-For recovery from the long run.
-For rest.
-For Military Ministry and their outreach.
-For all soldiers who are battling PTSD.
-For our military marriages to be strengthened and for God to raise up examples of godly marriages.
-For continued funding! If you want to bless the troops, give online at http://www.militaryministry.org/home/running-for-the-troops

Thanks so much, friends! I prayed for my race team today. :) May God POUR His blessings on you all! :)

-Jill