Yes, the world race is just like a cross country race!

This blog will be filled with cross country references so try your best to follow along.

It’s hard to explain to people why I love cross country so much. Friends and family always would ask me why I would willingly put myself into pain and push my limits every single day. And for fun? The world race is pretty similar. 

Every single day I am challenged. Doing things that are just as uncomfortable as running is. Something my coach always would remind us is “mile one never gets easier.” When we build more endurance throughout the season we are able to go faster, but that first mile is still going to hurt. For example, once it hits mid season we don’t take the first mile of a moderate run at the same pace that we would have if it were week one of training. Likewise, I have learned more about God, the creator of the universe, in the past five weeks than I have the past five years. So why wouldn’t I show it? It would be foolish of me to walk and talk the way I did before I had such an intimate relationship with the Lord! Now I have built the habits and endurance with the Lord so I am able to walk in awareness that I am forgiven, loved , and a child of God!!

I loved having the routine of race day. My outfit each race day was the same. Singlet, battle of the bell t-shirt, maroon camp spalding crew neck, then my team jacket. I would eat a bowl of oatmeal two-ish hours before my race and then keep my food and water intake minimum . A 15 minute warm up with one AirPod in playing my go to playlist titled “ windows down”. My hair would be put into two French braids ( by my awesome teammates), a hair bow on the right braid , lace up my multicolored spikes , put muscle gel on my hips and calves then go to the line.

On the race every morning I put on one of the three shirts I own, eat breakfast with my squad then pour my coffee and try to find a place to be alone ( not easy with 50 people trying to do the same thing) . I warm up with a prayer, opening myself to the Lord and whatever He wants to teach me. I gather all my pens( pink for new ideas, green for commands and orange for funny things ) and then open my Bible to continue my journey through the New Testament.I read until the next thing is on our schedule. Since I have built the habit over the past two months I am able to read not just a few verses, but rather a few chapters! The beauty of this routine is as I continue it, I build an endurance for the Lord! Now reading my Bible, praying and just sitting with the Lord is now light work compared to my old habits of only reading the word when assigned.

During the 24ish minutes of my 5K races I have a ton of emotions come to the surface. Like I mentioned mile one is painful, you are excited and have no clue how the race is going to go. When you see the mile two marker next to a tree you know that the people around you, strangers and teammates, are going to be the ones next to you for a while. You focus on your arms and breath, knowing your legs will follow. When you have to climb a hill you throw in a stride. Because when a hill comes you can’t take it slow, you have to just go full force up it! That hill will either flatten out, which in that case means you have to keep the same pace as before or it will go downhill. In that case, you let your body loose and “swim” down the hill. Mile marker three is spray painted on the ground. You know you only have about 7.5 minutes left of your race. It’s time to go. The people around you have the same goal, and together you push each other to get to that goal, the finish line. You get an extra pump of energy once you see the crowds. The finish line is near. Your legs feel like noodles and your stomach may need to release some things soon. But as soon as you cross the finish line you have people there catching you and keeping you on your feet. You did it! You completed the race! Praise God! Now in three days you will do it again. 

On the world race I obviously was super excited and nervous not knowing what any of it would really be like. After only one week I felt better about it! I fell in love with my whole squad and leaders and knew this is where I was supposed to be!! For hours every single day at training camp we sat down and learned about God and how we fit into his plan with the truths he speaks about us. It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t easy to be with people from all over the country who didn’t exactly know the same things you did. But I got through it. I didn’t drag my feet , I took the stride and sought discomfort to get through the hard times and come out the other side better than before. All 50ish of us all are so hyped to be on the field now in Guatemala. We all joined the race knowing we would travel the world. So now we can give each country we are in our all. The beauty of all of this is, we are doing it for 7 more months. My stomach may turn from some questionable street food. Missing the bus and having to walk longer than planned will make my legs feel like noodles. No matter what I know my squad of 50 and my team of 8 will be by my side, cheering me on, as I make my way across the world sharing God’s glory and love! 

Is there really a big difference between a 5k and 5 countries? I wouldn’t say so.