I have been thinking about becoming a morning runner for a while now.  I decided to make my move this month.   

There is one small detail that has been standing in my way...I am probably the opposite of a morning person.  I find the transition from sleep to activity extremely challenging and not to mention I'm super uncoordinated when groggy.  My body becomes its own tripping hazard.

This was a tough one but I finished!

It is kinda hard to believe this was my third marathon.  What a year of injury, recovery, and ramping back up!  I'm not where I'd like to be in terms of marathon performance but this time around was mostly about the experience:  getting myself back out there and putting some miles in.   

I praise God for this experience and keeping me relatively healthy during the process, for all my sweet sweet friends who let me ride their enthusiasm for me and my racing to the start line and beyond, and for my faithful running followers and blog readers who share their experiences and let me learn from them daily!

"You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

Psalm 16:11

I ran 20 miles today.  It was everything but joyful.

As I was out there riding along on the struggle bus I had a lot of time to think.  

20 miles...4+ hours = lots of time to think

The run started out great. Thankfully.   It was a perfect sunny fall day.  I anticipated sweating but not down to my shoes. I was feeling great.  By mile 5 however, things started to get tough and I started to mentally freak out about how much time and how many miles I had left to go. My right arch and ankle was also starting to flare up -- last year's injury rearing its head.

With all of that going on and the miles prematurely getting slower and slower I was hit with the thought of God's graciousness.

Just out of the blue.  Wham.  God is so good.

I was reminded of how much I have to be thankful for.  I think of grace as giving someone something good that they don't deserve. This is seriously how God deals with me day in and day out.  The verse above came to mind and wouldn't go away.  Out on my run today, I was filled with gratitude.  For everything.  Not just running. 

In the end, it was a hard run but I'm thankful for the experience.  After all, that's what training is all about -- to toughen me up for the real thing.  Boom.

I'm also thankful I got a great shot of these two feathery buddies while out on my run today.

City Turkeys!

It's fall folks!

What about you?

How is your fall running going?