Monday in a Nutshell

I do not believe in coincidences. I believe in GOD.

I have had the opportunity to see God perform miracles in my life that most of you would say were coincidental. Not me. Too many. Too awesome. Too perfectly molded to me and my life.
Today I had another "God-cidence"
I had planned on going to take the boys to the beach for a couple hours. We discussed going to Holly recreation. But at the last minute we ended up at a beach I have never even gone to before, Seven lakes beach. I have biked, hiked and ran through Seven Lakes but I have never been to the beach there.
As I laid in the sun catching up on last months "Runners World" magazine I heard a soft spoken voice above my head."HI, are you Austins mother?"  My first thought was "OH no, what did he do now?" But cautiously I responded "Yes, I am."
As I looked into the woman soft brown eyes that matched her warm brown hair I felt very relaxed. At ease. She introduced herself as the pastors wife at the local Nazarene church that my son goes to sometime with one of his friend "Cole".
As we engaged in conversation I discovered that we had a lot in common. We both had addiction running through our family, we both love God and.....She is a RUNNER!!!! The conversation was smooth and easy. I enjoyed listening to her and learning about her. She had many questions and I think we chatted for almost 30 minutes without a moment of awkwardness. I know God put me there for a reason. He wanted to introduce her to me.
*******
NOTE TO SELF: Do not push hard on the pavement 20 minutes after eating Mexican for dinner!!!
I decided to do 7 miles. Alternating between 1mile easy and 1 mile race pace. After only mile 2 my stomach started to cramp up. They were not the cramps that annoy your obliques. No, these went from the right all the way around to the left. My stomach was bloated and tight. It was not a lady like run as I tried to swallow down the refried beans only to belch up Tabasco and spit it up on the side of the road. I grunted out loud begging for the race pace mile to be finished. I just wanted to get to the slower pace...But underneath it all I loved the pain. I wanted the torture of this run. I NEEDED it. This pain has been absent from my training this season. It was time to suck it up. Cry if your gonna cry, whine if your gonna whine and Puke If your gonna PUKE. And that is exactly what I did as I entered into my street. I was embarrassed as I got to the end of the street and started dry heaving. There was not holding it back. The kids all looked at me mortified, Austin ran into the house freaking out. I yelled "Don't get dad." I knew a little puke was not the end all. Only by the time I got into the house it came out projectile. I was glad my head made it to the toilet..It was not pretty!

RUNDOWN:
Distance: 7.01
Pace:8:02
Time: 57.12
Mile 1-8:42
Mile 2-7:05
Mile 3-8:18
Mile 4-7:05
Mile 5-8:22
Mile 6-7:23
Mile 7- 7:52
Icing the KNEE!
Good Night..Gonna go find something to eat to replace my dinner!!

Anita