As a Running on the Wall athlete I ran the Earn Your Turkey 5 miler race on Thanksgiving. I loved the message of this race, Always Earned Never Given, because I believe that is true regardless if the race is live or virtual. I earned my medal and bling on race day in so many ways.
Originally, my plan was to have 5 miles of the 8.6 mile road race to count as my virtual race but life got in the way. Rainy days caused darling daughter's horse lessons to be rescheduled more than once and when it came down to the final straw, we opted for a morning lesson on Thanksgiving Day meaning....no road race for me AND an early wake-up call. Not what I had imagined but throughout the week I did Thanksgiving prep as much as possible to leave Thanksgiving Day as happy and stress free as it could be for the one cooking the feast.
And I was adding a new element in this year....we would be attending Thanksgiving Mass. The plan was to do the evening mass the night before but when I got home after a long day at work and the family was groaning I decided, okay, I will take darling daughter before horse lessons. One less battle.
Thanksgiving Day came and I woke up early to run 5.1 miles for the virtual race (yep, 0.1 miles extra), made breakfast, had time to run another 3 miles, got darling daughter and myself ready for church, found out horse lessons were cancelled again due to rain, and headed off for mass trying not to feel down that I was still missing the road race. The comfort I found was knowing I was putting God first. Since we did not do mass the night before and I WANTED to attend, the road race was definitely a no go. You can't be in two places at once and mass was AMAZING!You see, I was missing family this holiday season and once I walked into church and was greeted with so many sincere "Happy Thanksgiving!" from genuinely happy to see you faces I realized something. I was home for Thanksgiving. These people are part of my family. They brighten my day and lift my heart whenever I see them. Many have watched darling daughter grow up over the years and remember when I sat way back in almost the last pew as I felt uncomfortable. Now I am completely comfortable in the front pews. And I felt honored that Father related us to the one leper out of ten that returned to Jesus to thank him for healing them. It was right to give thanks to God on Thanksgiving...and every other day for that matter.
All in all, I ran 11.2 miles on Thanksgiving....much better than the 8.6 miles I hoped for. God is GREAT and I earned my virtual race bling. Of course, some I shared with darling daughter and my buddy, Toby, and they earned their part of the bling too.
Daily Gratitude: I am thankful for virtual runs.
Daily Bible Verse: In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. ~ Hebrews 1:1-2
