"10-10-2010...wake up to unexpected heat! Hmm.  Was expecting conditions for an ideal marathon! I wade through 45,000 people with my heart racing for 1½ hours prior to gun-time.  Finally, I find the official NIKE "PACEGROUP" for a 3:20 marathon finish time. "Can I endure this fast pace? Can I make it to the finish line? Am I prepared?" I question myself, I doubt, I feel uneasy-but I need to do this PACE because now, everyone surrounding me is doing this PACE... National Anthem plays...no turning back...I am squished with nervous people all around me... our feet shuffle...faster...faster...faster...my heart beats faster...my mouth is already parched in the first half mile...we pass the one mile marker, 2 mile marker but I do not go through the Gatorade/water stop as I "don't have time"...I have to stay with this group and keep "the pace". If I stop to nourish myself, I might fall behind them. I feel physically exhausted by mile 5. I have lactic acid build up in my right side.  I know as I have been told by my running coach time and time again-don't ever start too fast. I wonder how many times God, my coach of life, tells me this. Fast pace can make you fall short of the finish line... 

            I repeat verse Hebrews 12:2 over and over again

Do I want to slow down and finish the pace with joy or do I try and keep this fast pace in fear of failure (in my eyes) and maybe miss the finish line all together? I slow down to a 7:50 pace, nurture my physical body with energy gels every 5 miles and replenish with water/Gatorade at every mile marker.   I pray for God to send me His pacer, as I can no longer depend on the marathon's official 3:20 Nike pacers. At mile 15, an elderly man runs up beside me! We exchange history of our past marathons; I learn he has run several at the pace I wanted, a 3:20. In-between breaths, we talk of our families. I noticed as he runs through the water stop verses written on the back of his shirt... WOW! What amazing ways the Lord confirms HE hears our prayers and answers them.  I tell the man the scriptures on his back are the very same ones I was given and how I had prayed God would send me HIS pacer!

Philippians 4:13

For I can do all things with the help of Christ who gives me strength.

Hebrews 12:2

Romans 5:4

...Only God's WORD could provide strength to endure the 87-degree heat. Physically and mentally, there was nothing left. 9,000 runners never made it to the finish line.  

...Then at mile 20, my pacer fades away. I want to latch on yet realize the last 6 miles must solely be relied on The Lord. My left IT band is so tight that it begins to make my knee hurt. By mile 24, my chest tightens. I am still on pace for my personal record-if I can just hold on 2 more miles! My chest has never done this-I focus on breathing. Praying and eyeing my watch, as the time is ticking closer and closer to my goal, can I keep this pace to the end?  Please Lord, give me endurance...  Just hold on Talaya-you can make it-I repeat several times my scripture for all races.  Philippians 4:13

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

I am so thankful I finally listened to my body halfway through THE RACE, slowed down, nurtured myself, and now I am about ready to cross...  the finish line. Had I not, I might be one of the people I see carried away on an ambulance. In fact, I hear so many ambulance sirens it is eerie, I see so many people hurled over, crying in agony, fallen...just so close to the finish line. I feel blessed that I paid attention to HIS voice to slow down. What if... they too slowed down and nurtured their spirit and their bodies.

            The last mile, Lord put my "pacer" back in the picture. I was so happy to see HIM. We could cross the finish line together. I did not feel dependent on him anymore to get me there. However, I was now leading him! Finally, I felt the urge in the last half mile to leave all I had behind on the pavement of Chicago. The pacer said, "Go ahead, don't wait on me, you earned it, RACE to the finish line." I sprinted, I grasped, I pulled ahead-I heard the crowds, the cowbells, the Lord ready for me to lift my hands to His heavens-The line was here-I lifted my hands to the Lord with tears of praise-- for my lesson learned... for it literally saved my life. I still have more than half my life to live... RUN his PACE, REFUEL my SPIRIT, and RAISE my hands to grasp HIS at the finish line.

            So my finish was at a 3:27. I finished in the top 2% of women and the top 7% of men. Even though, this was not my finishing goal time-it was my personal best.