Few Burdens Are Heavy When God Helps You Lift!

I don't sleep well on Monday nights. I try but I worry a lot. I've tried to assesses the worrying. I have come to know myself better in the process of learning to run, than ever before, and somewhere . . .somewhere way down deep in the core of my being is a thought. So many times in my life this thought rises up and torments me something fierce. It is the thought that I'm somehow not going to be enough.
The thought rose up and presented itself when Kaedell came over just before I was headed to bed.  That's when we plotted our 8 mile run and decided there is strength in numbers.
Kadie left my house at 10:30 PM. She drove to the the West Weber cemetery all by her lonesome and hid our water bottles as planned. We were not sure Fremont would be open at five-thirty in the morning for our needed water stop and neither one of us was into packing added weight.
When Kadie's head-lights trailed out of the driveway, it was 10:48, I took another five minutes gathering up my running things, lumped them in a pile on the fireplace, preparatory for morning, then went to bed and tried to sleep.
I woke up at 1:30, then 2:30, I heard Seth get up at 3:30, I stared at the clock from 4 until 4:30 and finally climbed out of bed at ten after five. I could hear the wind howling as I sat down on the fireplace and dressed myself accordingly. All the world was black and I dressed in the quiet.
After tying my shot block to my shoe, I hit the fridge and gulped down a chocolate Ensure. That stuff is pure nasty but it gives fuel to my feet and to every muscle below my brain.
There is only one way to drink Ensure. You have to guzzle it, continuously swallowing without out thinking. I drank it down as fast as I could and then I knelt down and prayed extra hard before I strapped on my headphones and zipped up the windbreaker. I've learned that my burdens are lighter if I can get my Father in Heaven to help me lift! My prayer was simple, but honest in heart, "Thank you for my body. It's the most amazing machine you've ever built." Then, "Please bless my foot today Heavenly Father, and make me strong!"
The wind hit me hard as I stepped onto the road. Kadie said there would be some light at 5:30 in the morning. She lied! I thought about the skunk that live in my neighborhood. I pondered on whether I could see them in the dark or not and hoped our paths wouldn't cross.
The morning felt good despite the dark, the cold, and the wind. I heard my phone beep. My daughter either thinks I'm wimpy or maybe it was just wishful thinking on her part. All I know is just as I started my music a text came across. It said, "Too windy?" That's when I gave an evil laugh right outloud. I stopped in the dark long enough to fire one message back, "Your mother is on the road Kaedell, get ready!"
I turned the music up and thought about how there are no such things as, "Too windy", "Too rainy", or "Too anything", when you are running a 1/2 marathon! There is only one permeating thought that drives me. . . In the end, I cannot be found "Too weak!"
The Ensure was fueling me now big time and I marveled that it felt good to run. The running actually felt easy and my energies felt full and for the first time I knew why people take to running. For the first time in a year, my feet just pounded a steady beat on the road and I moved forward at a steady pace, and for the first time it felt effortless. That's when my favorite song came on and that's when I felt a powerful force on the road with me; running is spiritual.
The tune was soft and sweet and these are the words I listened to. I'm only sad you can't hear the melody.

SOMEWHERE THERE’S A MOUNTAIN

Written by Jason Deere

Somewhere there’s a mountain
It must be far away
Cause I stand on my tiptoes
And I can’t see a thing

Somewhere there’s a mountain
I heard the prophet say
That we’ll build a home there
And never have to go away

It’s a long, long way to walk
But one day I’ll climb to the top

Somewhere there’s a mountain
With flowers in the spring
I will take my shoes off
And wade the mountain stream

It’s a long, long way to walk
But one day I’ll climb to the top

And that’s where I’ll find Jesus
And when I see Him smile
I’ll put my arms around him
It will be worth every mile

Somewhere there’s a mountain

I love this song. It is sung by two little girls that are crossing the planes, making there way to the promised land. You can find it on the "Trek" CD.

Every time I listen to this song I think of the mountain in me, and running 8 miles is pushing me towards the top.

After thinking about life and all it brings, the music quickened my pace and soon I could see Kaedell's house in the distance, and that's when I realized I was still running. Without even thinking, I had not walked any of the distance. Maybe running in the dark has it's advantages. I realized as I saw Kaedell's house I had ran consistently now for almost a mile and a half, and all without even thinking about it. That's a new record for me. I expressed a quiet thank you in my heart and pushed it heaven ward.

        

I stepped in Kaedell's house and shed one layer of clothing and zipped my windbreaker back on. Kaedell was a welcome glorified sight! I love her! She motivates me. I love having a running partner, especially in the dark. 

We quickly made our way to the road. We talked, laughed, I ate a boiled potato and shared my cliff bar, and before I knew it we were rounding the corner at Fremont. We decided to see if it was open. The door swung easy and we took advantage of the free water. Kaedell showed me a new fountain. I was elated to find one closer to the exit.  After quenching my thirst, I strolled out of the door praising her name.

The wind was still tormenting us and I politely referred to it at the local stray dogs wandering mother. That's when Kadie corrected me, "Mom, the wind is our friend! It makes us strong!" I told her how noble she was and how much I loved her optimism, then I swore at the wind again!

There was no traffic as we crossed through the river bottoms, no shadow stretching long in the hay, no teenagers in cars traveling to school. The air was clean and my lungs were inhaling and exhaling hard now as the light rose in the east. That's when we heard the giant crying bird. She was calling to someone. Kaedell ask me what kind of a bird it was. I told her how I've listened to that bird my whole life but couldn't put a name to it. We could see her nest high in the trees nestled at the base of the river. I told Kadie, "I call it the 'crying baby' bird." It has a painful, mournful cry and sounded like a baby crying in the night.  

Pain is lessened when your mind is busy. It felt good to be enthralled in the morning conversations about birds and the sounds they make. It felt good to have someone to share the experience with, and soon I looked up and saw the water bottles sticking out of the cemetery fence. Kadie and I laughed at our ingenious plan. We decided to grab them on the way back and finished our mileage on the little country road that led to nowhere. 

8 miles goes by a lot faster with a friend. My daughter is my best friend. 

We stopped a minute after we retrieved the water and I untied the shot block from my shoe. Kadie asked me how it tasted. That's when I told her, "If I were five this stuff would be the bomb!" She laughed, I shared a couple of squares with her, and we drank the liquid now held tight in our hands. We swung our arms hard as we turned our tired frames north, heading straight into the wind. 

The sheer force of it kept pushing me back. This is when I ran out of steam and felt my pace slow to a snails crawl. I was glad Kaedell was by my side. She kept the optimistic fires burning inside me, despite the wind's exhausting gale.

You can see in the above picture Kaedell's boost of energy is still tied to her shoe. This is the difference between 23 years in age. I'm old and Kadie is young and as we fought the wind all the way home, I was reminded of our age difference every step of the way.

Kaedell kept bolstering me up as we tucked our heads and pushed our tired bodies hard against the wind. The morning was beautiful. The sun now lit the soft patches of clouds that hung high above our heads. I noticed they were lit with color, soft yellows and pretty pinks. There was a fat robin singing. It was sitting on the telephone wire as we passed by. It was not the only bird sound we listened to in the morning cold. Chirping filled the air all around us, and the smells of the country sifted in and out of my senses. 

I love the earth, I love my home, I love my little town, and I noted I love running with my daughter.  

As we finally turned down my road Kaedell's foot was nagging her. A few weeks ago she stepped in a pot hole in the dark. She's been nursing it, trying to get it better and while it's greatly improved, the increased milage was wearing on it.
Me; I'm like a horse as soon as I can see home, you can't hold me back, and my driveway was now off in the distance and a welcome sight to behold.
Today was an awesome run. 8 miles together was much easier than 7 miles alone. And getting up at five was a huge pay off. As Kaedell said, "Mom, we got to watch the world wake up!" Even with the wind, I enjoyed every single minute. I'm so glad Kaedell is my daughter, my friend, my running partner, my willing supporter in my crazy idea to run a 1/2 marathon.
With the morning challenge behind us we filled our cups with chocolate milk and drank up, laughed a little more, enjoyed our quiet victory, and then recorded the beautiful day in a frame!
I love life! There's so much of it to enjoy. I want to be alive while I am alive, and today, I felt alive! Let the record stand --- 8 miles! It was an absolutely spectacular run! Kaedell thanks for dragging me out of bed early!
PS, No depression today. The roast beef sandwich I made the night before hit the spot, along with grazing on complex carbs all day long.