Marathoning for mortals

November 4, 2011
"In a single step, my life changed forever."--John Bingham Marathoning for Mortals

I'm a passionate person I must admit. It doesn't matter if its my dream, my husband's dream, heck a complete stranger's dream. When they accomplish it, I cry. When people talk about their dreams, something inside of me moves with passion and compassion and hunger to do something in order for that dream or desire to be in the natural as it is in their day dreams or on their hearts and minds. So you must imagine just how much I was bursting on the day of my half marathon.

Everything went as completely chaotic as possible leading up to the event:)

The day before, Scott and I were packing the car up and fighting and fighting and fighting about everything. The most ridiculous things. Those kinds of fights where you're kind of thinking how unimportant the fight is the whole time, whilst continuing to engage in the fight and being motivated to be the one who is right, about the dumb thing you are fighting for.

When we reached Greenville, SC the town our race was in, Patricia, myself and our girls rushed to the stadium in some freezing rain to go get our numbers for the race. Scott headed to the place we were supposed to eat and he was hoping to meet some friends as well. Scott did not find his friends and proceeded to walk a mile up hill in the freezing rain. Patricia and I and babies proceeded to walk in the freezing rain pushing the babies in the double stroller to look for Scott at the restaurant that he was not in. Then walked back to the car, drove around trying to figure out how to park at our hotel. It was just one of those nights. The next morning Patricia missed her alarm and I received a phone call from my running partner saying she was NOT in Greenville but still at home in Fort Mill very sick and unable to run my VERY FIRST race with me that day.

I caught on pretty quickly to the fact that Patricia and myself and hundreds of others were about to have a dream come true. We were about to victoriously cross a finish line. And there were definitely forces at work hating the fact that so many would have a dream come true that day. Hundreds of people were about to fulfill a very memorable goal that they had fought for and would now win. Darkness was working and toiling and pushing any buttons they could to get us to loose focus and not overcome and not gain the complete joy and life changing experience we had worked so hard for.

Well, on October 29th. I completed my first half marathon. In this book I've been reading Marathoning for mortals John Bingham the co-author writes "Something very personal and very deep happened somewhere between the last step and the medal...Every emotion imaginable comes across that finish line on the shoulders of the participants. And every emotion is valid. Every emotion is worth its weight in gold."

I still can't put into words what I experienced as I came into the stadium. Fans roaring and cheering, ringing cow bells and air horns blasting. Little kids reached down to high five me as I turned my last corner. And the stadium seemed packed. I ran under the big banner with cameras clicking at me as a young girl smiled at me and said "congratulations" and placed a metal around my neck.

I told you before, I'm not sure if I've ever felt so accomplished before. Not sure if I ever allowed myself to set such a high goal for myself, and actually see it through to the very end. Maybe others in my life will tell me that I have. But this one was different. This was one I literally did not believe in myself for, until I started the race. Once I started, I knew I was finishing, and I wasn't even wondering if I would finish well. I knew I would finish well. I could hear God's still small voice in my heart, pressing me onward. Encouraging me, reminding me that if I work this hard toward something, He will be faithful to see me through to the end. Not that its my efforts that attain a thing, but my heart, my willingness, my submission. These were the things I believe that He saw in me. And He strongly pursued me on that day to finish well, to keep a strong pace, and to not entertain anything negative in my thoughts but to love on others as I passed them by and to use joy and encouragement to those around me to be fueled off of. Isn't that just like Jesus? Need strength? Offer it to others. Need joy? Smile at someone. Need encouragement? Encourage someone around you. I ran alone, but felt so connected to God and to everyone around me as if they were my brothers and sisters. Attaining one goal, and spurring one another on to achieve victory.

Like I said. I'm a passionate person. But once you cross a finish line, you probably won't think I'm overreacting. It really is as amazing if not more amazing than these words I've written here.

Be encouraged. Please. Go after something. Even if it seems silly. Who cares. Allow God to lead you into unsafe territory. Just to prove to you that with Him no goal is too high, no dream unattainable.

love you all. Thanks again for your support. It was so powerful to me to know that you've imagined me crossing that finish line and each time you did it, I received it as a prayer of confirmation that I would.

Please feel free to ask me for help on running a race. I'm no expert. But I will be your cheerleader:) and hopefully guide you into some helpful tips.

Blessings! DREAM BIG!
 

On October 29th I will run 13 miles

October 20, 2011
About 3 weeks ago I went out for my 10 mile run. It was the longest run I've ever been on in my whole life, and the next longest I will do will be 13.1 miles, half of a marathon, on October 29th!

The night before I ran the 10 I was eating sushi in celebration of my 26th birthday with one of my dear friends here. As I was talking to her about how I had to run 10 miles the next morning, I realized, that although I thought I had to be a lot nervous than I was, I really didn't feel nervous about i...
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I think I can vs. I know I can

September 18, 2011
Can I just start off by saying I ran 8 miles yesterday!!!!

My clock said 1 hour and 18 minutes. But then my encouraging housemate reminded me that I started my clock a minute or two before I started by run, so I may have really done it in 1:16 or 1:17 every minute counts! This means that I had a pace slightly below 10 minutes per mile. If I could keep that pace for 8 miles, surely I can keep it for 13! Which means I could run a half marathon in roughly 2 hours and 15  minutes or so...OK my ma...
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"Hi, I'm training for a half marathon"

August 28, 2011
I'm trying to think of so many wonderful things to post about.

But my mind is failing me just now.

I really want to give you some fun details about the way my life has changed in the past few months because of training for this half marathon, but I feel like I can't put them into words that will suffice. So instead I will make you a pretty list complete with bullet points of the way I've been affected by training for this half.

Bullet points below:)

  • I'm stronger. I can see and feel my leg ...

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I'm training for real now

August 3, 2011
When we got back from our holiday in Florida a dear friend of mine stopped in for a quick Hello:)

Calun: did you keep running over vacation?
Tabitha: I had to! I have no choice!! I already registered for the half marathon...
Calun: wow that's good that you kept up with it! That means your committed!
Tabitha: I don't feel very committed, but I'm registered to run the race so I guess that's what I'll do...

Its true. I don't feel committed. My housemate is up to 8 mile runs and I am only up to 3. G...
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Update!

July 21, 2011
Well well well this month has turned out to be quite interesting. Definitely not a month dedicated to the beginning of my training, but with grace and strength from above I'm managing to squeeze into one month- vacation,rest,errands,helping get my in-laws new home in Florida ready, painting, swimming, going to Disney, AND training for a half-marathon which includes running three days a week and cross training two days a week with Yoga.

I know this doesn't sound like much of a Sabbatical ...
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Training by Mickey's house

July 4, 2011
RUNNING RUNNING RUNNING...everything I think about has to do with RUNNING!

I wake up in the morning and think about what I will eat, and how much I will drink...whether it is a running day or not, everything I eat and drink has to do with "how will this help me in my running?" and "what will best FUEL my body?" Sometimes I get a little sad as I have these thoughts, because I remember back to the days where everything was DANCE DANCE DANCE. I would think, "what should I wear today? will i...
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wow...is anyone reading this?

June 27, 2011
Running has been hard. I'm not gonna lie. This morning I got to a little over 2 miles and just felt every lie in my mind raise up against me and tackle my body. I got heavier and heavier with each step and finally gave up and walked for a bit. The funny thing is I've already run more than 2 miles multiple times and done great. So why WHY all the sudden is my mind choosing to revolt and tell me that I literally physically cannot do what I'm attempting?

I wish I had an answer. I'm reading a book...
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steady steady push push push

June 20, 2011
On Saturday we ran about 4 miles...unexpectedly. Patricia and I woke up early Saturday morning trying to get in our 4th run of the week and hoping to run just a little bit further. We ended up running a lot a bit further and did quite a doozy (yes I just said doozy) on our bodies. BUT, we made it. We were exhausted all day Saturday and I don't even know if my body was ready for the run this morning.

This morning we probably did around 3 miles. It was hard and I still wondered about half way t...
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July 14 2001: 2.5 miles

June 14, 2011
Wow, I know, 2.5 miles...believe it or not its taken me TWO WEEKS to get up to being able to run that far. I stopped running a few months ago and it is really showing. I am however completely confident in my ability to finish this race:) I actually believe I could even run a full marathon, but seeing as I've never done any kind of race before (do walkathons in grade school count?) I figured going for the half marathon which is 13.1 miles rather than a 26.2 mile marathon is really still quite ...
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What Tabitha Is About


Tabitha Swires In the past two years Tabitha has led a life filled with adventurous new beginnings. Not only did she complete her degree in Dance at Belhaven University, get married, have her first child, and making a major move from Brooklyn to South Carolina, she is now pursuing her first half marathon in the Spinx Run Fest this October. Tabitha is hoping to not only challenge herself, but to encourage others to chase after the dreams of their heart, no matter what that dream may be. "And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith." Hebrews 12:1,2

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