Humbled...Again

February 2006: I ran my first half-marathon. That's 13.1 miles in case you were wondering. I don't say this to brag. I have never been an "athlete" (unless reading is a sport! ha ha! *insert nerd joke here*) But I found a great running partner and we were determined to do it. Let me tell you, we felt pretty hard-core when we crossed the finish line in the 32-degree weather. (Austin can be suprisingly cold in February!) Especially when we looked back on our 6 month trek to the finish line. It all started in August of 2005, when we started we could barely run half a mile without being completely out of breath.. no joke.

August 2006: We are now training again for the same half-marathon (and hopefully another). And I was getting that pride-ful "I'm super hard core!" feeling back again....and then I saw this video (see below) and I was completely humbled.

You may have heard this story before: Dick Hoyt's son Rick came into this world with an umbilical cord around his neck. The very thing that gave him life in the womb, left him unable to walk and talk. To make a long story short, Rick wanted to run in a race, but couldn't, so his Dadr ran it for him and pushed him the whole way. Years later, Dick Hoyt is still pushing his son in marathons and now triathalons. It's an amazing story.
Click on the link to see their full story. http://www.teamhoyt.com/

The other night (ironically the night of our first training day) I ran across this video. And pretty much cried my eyes out. It's amazing to see the love, dedication, and compassion this man has for his son. (Sidenote: Makes me think, if this human man can express this much love, this sacrifice, think of it in comparison to God's love! wow, makes me think that my imagination cannot even comprehend God's all encomassing love...but I digress)

So this year, I'm running. Not to lose weight, not to be cool or hardcore, not to keep from being bored, but because God made me incredibly healthy and because I CAN.

Anyways, here's the video. Watch it if you choose. Be prepared to cry.