26.2

Yesterday I ran a marathon. All 26.2 miles of it. I wrote a little bit about my nerves here a couple of days ago and now, here I am on the other side of things to write my race recap.

Krista= #1 cheerleader

First things first. We did it.

We actually did it.

Somewhere around mile 23 Jus  and I said to each other, “you know, deep down there was doubt that we could do this.” But there we were…mile 23. And we did do it. Running magazines often talk about “trusting the process” and suggest “resting” in the fact that your training will carry you through race day. Trust is a hard thing to have when you have never, ever, ever run that far in your entire life. But, I think the next time a friend runs a marathon, I will spout the “trust the process” wisdom. Because it’s true.

Ok, let’s back up a little bit to the beginning, shall we?

Deb, Ollie, Matt, Jussie and I went to Niagara on Saturday to get our race kits. The swag bags were actually pretty awesome and we got sweet long sleeve highlighter yellow race shirts. Afterward, we had the “prescriptive” pasta dinner. The food was bland and our waitress was crusty and I would have really liked to have a glass of wine.

We went and saw the movie Argo after. It was great.

Hotel to sleep.

Up early for race morning. Bagel. Nerves.

And then before we knew it, it was 10 am and we were lining up at the start.

Let me tell you the very best thing about this whole marathon experience…the FRIENDS we met on the run.

This race only had 1500 marathoners. It was small and friendly. We ran the first 6 or so miles with a really nice couple from Pennsylvania. We met a hilarious group of older Japanese women who had run a number of marathons before. We chatted with Dimitri from Greece who was running 4 North American marathons in a month and who asked if we were brothers. And we met a guy from Calgary who was on his honeymoon…and his wife was “way ahead..” We ran for a while with Lilianna from London, ON- originally from Colombia. And at the very end, it was Cindy who, when we started walking with 2 miles to go said, “pick it up ladies, I’ve been trying to keep up with you, let’s move it.” And then there was the “60 year old” with the strong Boston accent who kept asking spectators, “is it still Sunday?” He wanted to race us to the finish and is one of the many reasons why we had such big smiles on our faces at the end of the race.

The other best part was our cheering squad. A marathon, or any race for that matter, is over in a few hours. But our friends and our families- those people are what our lives are really about. They are the true blessings in our lives.

Deb, Matt, Maja, Krista and Luke were the best cheerers we could have asked for. My mom and Jussie’s Dad and Aunt were also there and that was the BEST. Seeing their smiling faces and knowing that they would all be at the end was something to look forward to. They gave up their Sunday to race around Niagara trying to see Ollie and Jus and I and that makes me feel supported like nothing else.

I can’t wait to be a cheerleader at one of my friends’ next race.

Finally. Jussie was the best running partner I could have ever asked for. We had fun. We made multiple videos during our race (and I can’t wait to share once it’s all edited!) We sang songs. We laughed. We complained. I 100% could not have done this race on my own. I have so much respect for the brave runners that were out there for long stretches alone. It’s not easy to be in voluntary pain and to be alone inside your head. So much respect for those runners.

In fact, so much respect for all of the runners, cheerers, volunteers…everyone. Running really does bring people together.

So close to the finish!

Today, I am hobbling around and taking it easy. But my heart is so full of gratitude. Mostly to our friends and family but also to the Creator for the gift of these bodies that can work so hard, for land so beautiful you don’t get bored of how pretty it is for 26.2 miles, for sunshine, for pumping hearts and new friends.

doin’ it!

Victory!

 

Bringing Joy: Sweet Ice Snow Cones

My friends Lindsay and Meg are awesome. They are kind, funny, sweet…and they are business owners.

Will you check out their cute blog? They own an incredibly cute snow cone business called “Sweet Ice”. I can assure you that they make the world’s most delicious snow cones. They make all of their syrups from scratched with locally sourced ingredients and a lot of LOVE. It’s been a privilege to watch their business grow from a tiny sprout into a well known Hamilton feature!

Check out their adorable Valentine’s Day project.

Meg and Linds are hosting a fundraising campaign to restore their trailer for the summer season. Last season when Jus and I went out west tree planting we were gifted with a free trailer from my friend Annalee’s family..so trailers have become close to my heart.

Might you consider watching their video? Or maybe if you’ve got money to share, helping with their fundraiser?

 

 

Lent

Tis the season of Lent for some faith people around the world- the 40 day period before Easter where “religious people” often deny themselves something in order to remind themselves of their faith. In our North American “want=need=have” culture, lent is a very weird concept because we rarely deny ourselves anything. That’s why we have credit cards to buy the things we can’t afford. Here in our, we buy whatever we think we want- and we have no idea what we need because we have never given ourselves the space to dissect out “wants” out of the way. Want and need have become words that are interchangeable. A “luxury” that simply isn’t true for most people on earth.

Matt and I have participated in Lent in previous years. We have given up facebook and that was well, fine. A couple of years ago we decided that we were going to do a Blood: Water Mission challenge and go without beverages for 40 days. The catch is, you drink only water (and you eat food, of course) but you save all of the money that you would have spent on drinks and you donate it to their organization to build wells for people who need water.  If you’re interested in reading about that adventure check out any of the posts labelled “water” in the categories sections. It was a transformative experience AND it helped people…not just us.

That’s the thing that bugs me about Lent. It seems like its all about glory. How much of your habits/stuff/life that you can give up. Sadly, I think the most common thing women give up is sugar, friend food, chocolate, candy…and while I wish I thought it was because denying themselves sweets would do any good, I often negatively associate this with a bizarrre form of spiritual weight loss, not spiritual formation. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am generalizing here..and some people will not fit in my box.

And yet…really? What good happens in the world, in me, in us if we deny ourselves chocolate for 40 days and then go right back eating it on day 41. And yes, we’d appreciate it extra much on day 42 and 43 and then…and then, what? It’s over.

This year for Lent we’re doing something neither Matt nor I has ever done. Our church is fasting. We are fasting. For Tuesday until we have a community dinner with fellow church friends from our neighbourhood, we’re going to be only drinking liquids…each person has the choice to decide to fast for how long and what is included in that fast. Each week our group is going to collectively decide on something specific to pray about and throughout the day, we’re going to pray. And then at night we’re going to eat.

It’s hard for me to tell you about this fasting because it seems so freaking weird. It seems too religious, too bizarre. But we’ve agreed. For me (and I can’t speak for anyone else) this seems different from giving up candy or something like it because it’s not trendy, it’s not cool and we’re not going to be bettering our health (aka getting skinnier). Muslims fast for an entire month only eating in the darkness. I think we have a lot to learn from people of other faiths. I think that prayer matters- that it’s powerful. I think that I am going to learn what it feels like to be hungry because truthfully, I generally act preemptively. Is the world going to be better? I have no idea. I hope it will make me more passionate about hunger as I know the water challenge made me pretty convinced that a world where people drink dirty water is a world that needs to be changed.

Time will tell.

image source.

Experiment Week #5- Passion

One of the major bonuses of marrying Matt is that he has incredible friends. I think it’s true that the people you spend your time with say a lot about you–and in Matt’s case, it  says he must be pretty  awesome.

Steve is one of my favourite friends. We went to Waterloo at the same time so we spent some time making the commute to the Hammer together, playing squash or eating curly fries with friends at the campus pub.

Steve has a million and one good qualities–and there are so many of his attributes that I would love to have and be.

In a nutshell, Steve is one of the most brilliant people I know- both book smart and just life smart. He loves his friends a lot. He loves God a lot. He is passionate. I think this is the quality that stands out to me the most about Steve: passion.

There is something to be said about a person who would go to the wall for his friends and family. Steve’s love for life and God (and Bill Simmons) is so evident in everything he does. In his laughter, his running and eating–it’s all done with passion- and joy. He even has a joyful looking running gait, I kid you not.

I know a lot of people who lead (what is in my opinion) exceedingly boring lives. It’s so easy to fall into the mundane. Only about the weather…or watching too much bad tv. Life can become this awful repetitious, dreary cycle.  But I think deep down most people long for connection, for community, for love and to be known. Steve is always trying to better understand the world, God, community and friendship. In the few years I have known him, he has taught me that it’s pretty cool to “love church”, that reading Catholic Priests can be life-changing and that there is never a bad time for a dance party or a good ole’ butt shake.

I want to see the world through eyes like Steve’s. Eyes that see the divine in all things and live with a deep sense of awe and reverence for life and love. I’d also like to be as good at squash as he is.

He writes a blog that you should check out if you get a chance–like I said, he’s brilliant…and I feel really, deeply blessed to be his friend.

Festivus for the rest of us- POLL…PARTICIPATE

I am typically not that crazy about Christmas…I generally hate listening to Christmas carols even 1 day before December 1st, but for some reason this year I am excited for all that Christmas brings with it…the baking, the family stuff (maybe not alllllllll of the family events), the rosy cheeks, hot chocolate, decorations and general merriment.

I struggle with the capitalist underpinnings of the holiday and have spent a lot of time stressed out thinking about how to make Christmas everything it’s supposed to be.

In my opinion it’s pretty easy to come up with a list of things that Christmas in NOT meant to be:

- a time to go to the mall

- a time to go into debt

- a time to buy more junk

- a time to experience stress, chaos and last minute gift buying

- a time to further separate the rich and the poor

In light of these things, I have tried really hard to make Christmas about love, grace, giving and receiving and about creativity.

I don’t NEED ANY MORE STUFF. Last year I told my mom that I under NO CIRCUMSTANCES wanted her to buy me any gifts.

Do you know what happened… (of course not, you weren’t there…so I will tell you).

She CRIED. Not because she was soo happy that her anti-consumerism-when-it-suits-me daughter finally got it but rather, because I was robbing her of the JOY of blessing me.

It’s complicated, eh?

So, this year there will be more wading through family traditions and continuing some great ones (matt and i always make each other gifts– matt’s gifts to me  turn out magical, my homemade gifts either a. FAIL or b. are completed by grandma).

One thing I know for sure, is that myself, my friends and my family aren’t the ones who are in need this Christmas…ironically, we will all (I’m sure) recieve a lot of material gifts despite the fact that we already have too much stuff.

Last lent a few of us participated in Water Challenge and it was hard and good and such a learning experience (don’t worry, this year I will be drinking coffee EVERY DAY during lent). What made water challenge SO MUCH better was that I didn’t do it alone. People joined me…and it was such a privilege to be able to participate in a challenge like that with people I love and respect.

So, for Christmas this year I thought a few people might be interested in joining together to give to those in need this Christmas. I made a quick poll but would LOVE LOVE to hear other suggestions. Let’s not make this Christmas about us- let’s be really generous. I love Rob Bell’s saying “when I honour the image of God in others, I protect the image of God in myself.” Let’s give because it’s right and just and in doing so, I think we’ll be given more than we give…if you know what I mean.

So– FILL OUT THE POLL.

Please.