A Long Ten Miles

Several months ago I talked dear, sweet Adam into running two races with me in Birmingham. At the time, I was looking for something to focus on to take my mind off the waiting. Those of you who know Adam know that he does not love running. At all. But he loves me, and so he agreed to train with me and run in these two races here in Birmingham. The first of these two races was today: A ten mile run called The Red Nose Run, benefitting the Ronald McDonald House. While we were quite nervous about it last night and even on into this morning, I am pleased to say that we both finished. Here is the story in pictures.

Here is what our race day packet looked like. Adam was not pleased by the clowns and informed me that he would not hesitate to throw down with a clown who got too close. If you know Adam, ask him to tell you his clowns in the elevator story. :) 

So this was quite humorous. For our very first race, Adam and I were bib numbers 1 and 2. You receive your number based on your time of registration; it has NOTHING to do with your actual ability to run. Needless to say, Adam and I got a good laugh out of this. And as an added bonus, we got a whole lot of shout outs from people we did not know. "Hey! Numbers 1 and 2!" 

Yeah. We are a big deal. Ha! 

Before the race. Feeling optimistic! 

 This is where I started to get exceptionally nervous. We had never run this far before, and I was worried that we would not be able to do it. 

Thank you, dear husband, for running with me today. I would not have been able to finish without you right there next to me. And let me brag on him for a second. When we were about 4.5 miles in to the race, my brain started telling my body that we were done. At this point, Adam starts telling me that where we are on our run is just like where we are in our adoption. We are past the hard stuff and have settled into a rhythm. All we have to do is keep our eyes on the finish and we will make it. 

Isn't he just a keeper??

And we did it! Ten miles. No stops. Boom. 

You will notice that Adam's shirt is suddenly navy blue. That would be his sweat. Poor fella'! 

And this is what happened to my socks. :( 

All in all, today was a really cool experience. There is a big part of me that cannot believe we actually did it, but I am so glad that we did. It is awesome to be able to say that we ran for ten solid miles and finished the race. But the coolest part was meeting people as we ran. Adam and I wore our adoption shirts, and they ended up being a real conversation starter. People would ask us what the verses meant, and we were able to explain the Scriptures and then talk about our adoption. We ran beside a very nice gentleman, JR, for a while, and he was asking us about our adoption and if we had a blog. I hope you find us, JR! It was so great talking to you. And we ended up beside an adoptive mom who spoke on the parent panel at our Crossings class this summer, so we were able to chat with her (between breaths!). She even asked us for our names so that she could pray for us specifically. Sometimes, I am just overwhelmed by God's grace in our lives. 

But now, I am resting in bed stretching my legs. Good night! 

Love, 

Baylor