With less than 4 weeks remaining until the start of the Pinhoti 100, I felt now is a good time to update you on an exciting partnership opportunity with the race. I am pleased to announce that I will be running the race to raise awareness and financial
support for LIFE Ministries, a local ministry here in Birmingham. You can become a sponsor by
going to http://runforlifenow.com/. Lots of great info on the website and a safe, easy way to donate at the bottom of the page.
I am running for LIFE Ministries
because they are fully committed to helping people discover the
freedom that can only be found in Jesus Christ. There are many
parallels between the freedom I find in running and the ultimate freedom
that can only be found through a relationship with Jesus Christ. I
have seen first-hand the impact that LIFE has had on many individuals
and couples in their own personal adventures and journey with God. I
fervently believe that God has uniquely positioned Randy and Melody
Hemphill and LIFE Ministries to help individuals and couples realize the hope that is found in Jesus Christ.
Randy at LIFE Ministries has asked me to write an update/devotional for each week leading up to the race. Below is the first update/devotional that was sent out to their supporters and friends.
October 8, 2012 – Finishing Strong by Chris Dollar
With less than four weeks until the start of the
Pinhoti 100, training continues to proceed…mostly as planned. The miles
continue to add up and I feel confident that my body is responding to
the beating it is taking on a daily basis.
Before a big race I like to run a shorter race as a tune-up and to
gauge overall fitness. A couple weeks ago I ran the Georgia Jewel 35
mile trail race to see just where things stand. Below are some thoughts
about the race.
The Georgia Jewel 35 is also on the Pinhoti trail,
albeit on the Georgia side, so I figured the terrain would be quite
similar to the upcoming 100, making it a great training race. The
course was 17.5 miles out to the turnaround, and then
17.5 miles back on the same trail. My strategy was to run the first
half conservatively and then hopefully pick up the pace in the second
half. This is my strategy for a lot of races, but usually has mixed
results.
The first hour of the run was before sunrise, and
began with the first 1.3 miles being straight uphill. I chose not to
bring my good headlamp, and instead opted for two clip on lights
purchased from Academy for $5. Bad decision. One
never turned on and the other was quite dim. Therefore the first hour
was spent tripping over rocks and looking for the directional markers.
After many near falls (my running motion probably looked like a
toddler), a near wrong turn, and not drinking enough
water due to the focus on the trail, the sun came up and the lack of
light was no longer a factor.
Skip ahead to the turnaround. At mile 17.5 I made it to the turnaround aid station and was in 13th
place overall and felt good to have half of the race behind me. I took
a bit of time here to hydrate and gather supplies for
the return trip. Now it was time to crank it up and test the legs a
bit. My pace quickened over the second half, and my legs felt good and
spirits were high. My effort moved me up to a 5th place finish and resulted in a negative split.
A negative split is a frequent goal of runners, as
it simply means running the second half of a race faster than the
first. It is a tangible way of knowing that a runner finished strong.
Running has many illustrations for life, and
particularly life as a believer in Jesus Christ. What does it mean to
finish strong in your personal life? As individuals there are many
times when we, like in this race, are wandering around
in the dark directionless and without light. Sometimes we feel like
every step is uphill. Many of us have taken the wrong turns of bad
decisions or find ourselves being repeatedly tripped up by the
consequences of those decisions or sometimes simply by forces
outside of our control. Despite these obstacles we can still finish
strong.
The turnaround for the race was a mile marker, but
for us the turnaround is found in a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Jesus can take the hurts from our past, heal them, and replace them with
hope in Him, allowing us to live life with
new joy and excitement.
What does this look like for us? Turn your past,
regardless of how ugly, over to Jesus, and from this point forward make
it your goal to finish strong with Him by your side. Maybe it’s in your
marriage, family, career or relationships.
Let Jesus be the turnaround and from there finish strong with Him.
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28
Again, the website to sponsor or learn more is below:
http://runforlifenow.com/
http://runforlifenow.com/
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