I can do all things through God who strengthens me

I did it! I reached my goal of finishing the race in less than 2 hours! Who cares if the clock read 1:59:58??? It was still under 2!!! WOO HOO!!! (And I’m alive to tell about it!) :-)

I made it through my relay with a few special gifts from God. I was able to walk/run as planned for the first 4 miles. During that period I did start to feel pain from my planter facetious... but I pushed through and made it as far along as I could. The second toe on my right foot went numb a few times but I got the blood flowing again and kept pushing on!

At about 4.5 miles my first gift from God appeared...my amazing boyfriend Francesco was there on the sidelines cheering me on. More importantly he was holding my bag that had my walking shoes in them!!! I HAD TO change my sneakers. The pain in my right heal was so bad that I couldn't even put it down...so the walking sneakers with more support were a God sent at this point! Francesco walked about 1/2 a mile with me then went back to the end of the race as I continued on.

Around mile 5.5 I was feeling the strain in my right leg. The pain in my heel was making me compensate while walking and the pain was shooting down my right calf muscle and Achilles…pain was kicking in. My second gift from God was this older woman who ran by me. She patted me and said, “Keep it up, you can do it!” and then pointed to the back of her t-shirt as she ran by. Her shirt read, “I can do all things through God who strengthens me.” That was a big push for me and I began the ultimate speed walk at this point. I walked as hard as I could through the pain. I was just praising God through my head and shortly thereafter a song came on my iPod and it made me think of our Lord Jesus and the pain he had carrying that cross on Calvary. I felt the size of an ant as my humble heart was beating. The pain I felt in my foot and leg was nothing compared to what Jesus went through for me. I pushed and pushed and just prayed. Jesus was with me and held my hand as I continued on and worked through the pain.

The next gift God sent me to keep me going and not give up was towards the very end. I knew I was getting close to the end but I still had a thought to give up or just take a break. Well, right as I was about to, I spotted the street sign where I was turning on. It was Dwyer Lane. I immediately thought of my chiropractor/friend Kelly Dwyer. She was the FIRST person to give me a donation and this was the LAST leg of my race. Talk about a literal sign from God! Well, I thought of Kelly and how generous she was to support me and I sped up once again and refused to be conquered by pain (besides, if the pain got really bad, she would fix me up!) :-) So I continued to push and I made it past the last curve…

I’ve never been in a race or an event like this before so I didn’t expect to see ALL THESE PEOPLE cheering me on! Sure, everyone had a friend or family member there to see but EVERYONE was cheering for EVERYONE! People were calling out my number and pushing me along and cheering me on! It was a great feeling…my final gift from God was my relay partner Andrea. As soon as she spotted me she came over and arm in arm we ran through the finish line together! To share that moment with such a dear friend was amazing and I was so happy that we were able to cross that line at the same moment and collect our medals!


I would never have done this event if it wasn’t to support the children of Mustard Seed Communities. Those children are MY babies. They are MY children. They are MY life. They have changed my life more than I have theirs. I will be going on my 4th mission trip this November to see my kids. Because of the love and support of everyone who has donated, I will be able to see healthier, happier, educated, nourished children once again. Your support gives these children a chance that they didn’t have before. Thank you for supporting me and the children of Mustard Seed Communities - you really have no idea how grateful I am!

~ Christina

What Running Has Taught Me

It had been a long and anxious wait, lacing up the sneakers through the past 18 weeks of training, through a gamut of weather conditions and dealing with just a few aches and pains along the way, but we've come so far in our running quest, all in the name of Mustard Seed Communities.

Finally, it was here - the culmination of all of our hard work-the big show- my first half marathon, knowing I didn't want to let down our supporters, friends, and of course all of the "Super Heroes" at MSC. Although it took me 2 hours and 41 minutes, I ran alongside my awesome teammate Kasey in her bright green and yellow outfit, through the woods, and picturesque residential streets, past "Larry the Lighthouse," encouraging each other through all kinds of uphills and long stretches of open road. I felt an emotional burst of energy sprinting toward the time clock, with all of my teammates cheering me on. Even though I was feeling "a bit" tired, so many of them came up to me saying I was aglow crossing the finish line. For sure, I had a flashback of all the times I was tempted to be discouraged or focus on the negative but didn't, from checking my fund-raising page and all that were inspired to support us, and all associated with MSC Jamaica.



Running has taught me many things - to live in the moment, to understand my body, it's needs and all it can do, and although I'm not the fastest runner, to be thankful for all that I have and all I can give. Michael and the team never once gave up on me, as crazy as a half marathon seemed to me, when we first started talking about it last winter. Mile after mile as long as I put in the effort, and it was certainly God who brought me exactly what I needed at all the right time in my life - the inspiration and power to accomplish great things, especially for my favorite cause.

~ Melissa

Teamwork

Before our trip last year i wrote a blog from the rookie perspective. In the case of running a half marathon, I am actually not so much of a rookie. I ran a half marathon in April of 2009 kind of by accident. I had been running 5ks and some women in my office were signing up for the More and Fitness half marathon in central park, I said I would do it with them and before I knew it I was "training" for my first half. I had some knee issues in the past and it became an issue during my training last year and I let it get in the way in a major way. Then race day came along and it happened to be an unseasonable 92 degrees. Basically I gave myself some excuses to not run as fast as I probably could have.

Training with the group this year has made all the difference. I never enjoyed running with people before, and definitely would never think of running without my ipod to motivate me. Now I can hardly imagine a long run without some of my favorite people by my side. I had some knee and hip problems along the way but knowing I had people waiting for me every Saturday morning for long runs was all I needed to get out of bed and run through the pains. The team work we pull together for our common goal for the kids continues to shape my life in so many ways. The motivation everyone has given me has even encouraged me to sign up for another half marathon in September! The kids in Jamaica and the Hoboken Cares team constantly push me to be the best person that I can be.

~ Jordan

Lets be Superheros!

As some of you may know, the HobokenCares team has committed to running a half-marathon to raise money for Mustard Seed. Many of us have never run before, or never participated in a race or only run a 5K ... certainly most of the team has never run 13.2 miles! But we have a couple marathoners in our ranks so they have taken the rest of us under their wings and shown us the way. We have been training since January and now amazingly the race is only a few days away!

I am one of those who has run before but never this far. The most I've ever run was 5 miles, and I was so proud of myself after that accomplishment that I took a break from running - and never went back! I never thought I could run more than that, and quite frankly never wanted to :-) But when this challenge presented itself I thought - I have to do this for the kids. Part of me didn't believe i could do it but I had to try.

As it turns out, my body didn't believe I could do it either. As I progressed in my training, I started feeling the effects - first pain in my knee (probably the result of knee surgery many years ago) then in my hamstring. But I kept training and trying to push through it. I thought about our kids... and how they face hurdles and challenges and physical obstacles every day but they keep trying. I pictured Hakeem in his wheelchair or Jerome struggling to put on his leg braces and then impressing us all as he walked laps around the courtyard at Sophie's place.



I felt I could push through for the kids. But it became painful enough that I was having trouble walking so I went to a doctor to make sure I wasn't doing any long-term damage. Diagnosis - a rotated hip and hamstring tendonitis. Six weeks of physical therapy. And no running.

The race is 3 days away, and I am still on the fence about what to do. I ran 2 miles yesterday and did not feel good - the pain came back almost immediately. I could probably run part of the race and be ok, although the pain will worsen and I'll probably undo whatever healing I have had in PT so far. I know my body probably will not let me complete the whole 13.2 miles - but I'll do what I can... for the kids. Because as coach Michael has reminded us today: "We are their legs. They are our heart."

The SuperHero half-marathon is this sunday , May 16th... check out some of our fundraising pages and please consider supporting us in our efforts for the kids of Mustard Seed!


http://www.firstgiving.com/bridgethughes
http://www.firstgiving.com/karenimbach
http://www.firstgiving.com/andreamilo


~ andrea