Hotel: $52.35
Carbolicious dinner the evening before race day: Free (thanks to my dear friend)
Pre-race breakfast: $6.29
Running and completing a 13.1 mile race at 19 weeks pregnant while one of your best friends cheers you on: Priceless
I did it friends! I completed the Virginia Beach Shamrock Half Marathon! It was not fast, but I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to run. Let me walk you through my journey, there's been enough running for now... it all started back in November after I finished the Richmond Half, which was rather lonely and dreary for me due to the rain and lack of running partner. I was pleased with my time but thought I could do better, and I desperately wanted a friend to enjoy the experience with. Also, I should mention, at the time, I was angry at God because I was not yet pregnant, so what did I do in my anger? Throw back a bottle of wine and cry? Nope. I signed up for another half marathon. Does that tell you something about me? My goals were to run with a friend (enter Katie) and PR. Fast forward to early December: we found out we were expecting. My thought process: "Holy moly! This is happening. There's a baby on the way. I may have just wasted $100 on this race. Should I keep running? Will I keep running? How active will I be 3 months from now? What will happen to my body? I'm growing a human right now. Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness. Thank you Lord! What are we going to do? This is crazy. Thank you thank you thank you God." Yeah, that about sums it up. I did not feel great during the first trimester and subsequently, did not run at all in the month of December. My running partner and dear friend, Katie, was so gracious and kept reminding me that I had total freedom to tap out. By mid-January, I was feeling better and was motivated to train even in the bitter cold of winter (enter polar vortex or snowpocalypse). The snow, excuse me, the snows disrupted our training time and time again, but my competitive spirit runs deeper than a few inches of precipitation. We missed a few long runs but stayed motivated. Some friends let me use the treadmill in their home to keep up with my schedule. Fast forward to mid-February: Katie re-injures the foot she broke last year and decides not to run the race. Of course, I was bummed, not mad, but totally bummed. I love running with Katie. And now my goals were going up in smoke. I knew I could not PR and wasn't about to try. Running with a friend, I could still do that, and it would be great... POOF! Goals = gone. Motivation and confidence = low. Weather = cold, snowy, oppressive, against me. Should I just throw in the towel? Call it quits? Waste my money? No, I could not let the cold win and I could not waste my money, so I kept at it. As race day quickly approached so did uncertainty. My longest training run was only 8.5 miles, and I was without a partner to spur me on during the race. My hope was to run the first 7 miles without stopping then run/walk after that depending on how I felt. I could do that, but what would the latter half of the race look like for me? Even though Katie was not running, she still wanted to come cheer me on, so we road tripped to Virginia Beach together. Her enthusiasm and encouragement helped to diffuse my worry and lift my level of excitement. She even made a sign to hold while she cheered (see below), and she came home with blisters on her fingers from ringing her cow bell during the race. That is friendship, people. On race day, I felt good, well-rested, well-fueled and hydrated, ready to run. I joined up with a few friends from Richmond at the start line, and we high-fived and waited in our corral as the sun came up. Before you knew it, we were off. I ran at a steady pace and thoroughly enjoyed all the festive attire and especially the weather: sunny yet cool... perfect in my book. Oh, and the course was gloriously flat, absolutely no hills! Cue the hallelujah chorus. I got to the seven mile marker and walked as I threw back the majority of my gummy bears. After a snack, I was still feeling pretty good, so I kept running. I slowed down for almost every water stop and walked some at 10 miles, but I ran the majority of the race and finished strong at 2 hours and 28 minutes. Baby Norris did great, and he/she was especially pumped about the post-race meal of pancakes, sausage, and eggs!
During the race as I took in the whole experience it dawned on me... this was not about my personal accomplishment, not at all. This was about what God had graciously given me. He gave me the ability to run, to run while pregnant, and to run such a distance, he gave me the drive to push forward in training, and he gave me the freedom to truly enjoy the race. I was and am so thankful! I'm thankful too for my doctor, friends, and family who were all incredibly supportive, for Katie who cheered like a rock star, and for Steve who prayed and cheered from a far and who gladly cooked dinner and rubbed my back when I got home.
Now, it's time to kick back and watch some basketball.
Being nerds at the expo :o)
Baby's first half marathon
A great fan and friend
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My heart is glad as I reflect on my race experience, but I admit, it is heavy when I consider another runner's experience. A tragic thing happened on race day. A 16-year-old girl, Cameron Gallagher, from Richmond died after completing the Shamrock Half Marathon. The cause of death has not been released, but sources say she collapsed just seconds after crossing the finish line and could not be revived by medical professionals. My prayers go out to her family and friends. Cameron attended the high school right around the corner from our house, and as I drive past it each day, I know many inside grieve. Stories like Cameron's are reorienting for me. They remind me to be thankful for what I've been given today, but further, they send me to the cross of Christ where hope is found and sin & death is conquered once for all. Many of those around me have experienced great loss and heartache recently, and my main prayer for them is that they would find comfort in the One who loves them, who died for them, and who is an ever-present help in this confusing world.
As they say in South Sudan, "God is not defeated by death."
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