A 70.3 Prayer

Dear God,

You may know by now that I am doing something very crazy on Sunday.  Traveling by car about 650 miles… so that I can travel by sea, bike and legs another 70.3 miles.

It’s quite insane really. Please forgive me for this stupidity.

That being said, dear Lord, please help me remember to be in the moment during the race.  To say “thank you”, to be thankful, to be appreciative, to enjoy the sun and the sweat, the tears and the aches.

I pray that I will stay upright on my own two feet.

Please guide me through the aid stations, so that I do not harm the volunteers with my flailing arms or wandering bicycle.

I pray that you will place your guiding hand across me as I swim, keeping me going towards the buoys, and not back to the shore where my instincts will try to take me. Please keep the sharks away.

Please please please do not let me have a flat.  And if I do have a flat, please cause my feeble girl arms to become super Go-Go Gadget arms with massive tube-changing powers.  Help me keep my greasy hands away from my face. Race pictures are perilous enough.

Let the 1.2 mile swim feel like 100 yards, the bike as if I am giggling away on a tricycle, and the run as if a skip in the park.  (Okay, that’s alot to ask).  I amend:  please help the cramping, delirium and the desire to curse to remain at a minimum.

I am so thankful for the Expert, my family, and my SBM friends.  I am thankful that collectively, we have been able to raise almost $1,200 for the Stanley Family and their non-profit, Blueprint 58.  When I felt weak in my training, I would close my eyes (for a second, especially if on the bike) and instead of thinking of the pain, I would think of the Stanley Family.  I would think: I can certainly run 2 more miles if that sweet Caden can survive open heart surgery at five days old…  I can push through this pain if the Stanleys can care for a special newborn on negative hours of sleep… I can keep moving my bike forward if the Stanleys have the kind of faith to move the mountains they have.

I am overwhelmed with gratitude to this family, and I thank you, God, for their influence. Finally, I pray that my awesome SBM friends will find a place in their hearts to make a small donation if they haven’t yet.

As my friend, Charlie, says:  I get to do this race.  She is so right.

And for that small fact, I am thankful.

Amen.

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ONLY THREE DAYS until Ironman Miami 70.3.
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