Fleeting Emotions - Peyton Jordan Reflection

The group of great runners I travelled with:
Jon Grey, Me, Jamie Cheever, Meghan Peyton, and Matt Llano

My trip to the Peyton Jordan Invitational has come to an end. I am back to reality in the great city of Minneapolis. To say the least, I am excited to step back on the track and race again!  I ran a 16:34, which is a PR, but not quite the time that I had hoped for. Nevertheless, I gained a lot of confidence from the experience and know that there is more to come! I ended up running in heat 3, which was not the fastest heat, but if I look on the bright side, it allowed me to be actively engaged in the race. Our first mile was around 5:09, but the next two miles slowed a lot. Throughout the race, I was aware that the pace was slowing, but because I haven’t raced this year, and I don’t have a lot of experience with the 5K, I was not confident enough to take control of the race. In retrospect, I wish that I had tried to help make the second mile move faster, but am confident that I can next race.

It is comical to recount the roller coaster of emotions that my mind goes through in just one lap of a race, let alone 12.5 laps. Within one lap I debated if I should take the lead, then questioned if I could hang on, and then a few strides later I would debate how soon I could take the lead and go for the win, but then return back to the fear and doubt of debating if I could hang on! I learned that within a 5K, I cannot respond to my immediate instinct and emotion, but that I must trust that I can press on and continue to drive the pace. I believe that this is the case in all I do. I am often tempted to give in to my momentary and fleeting emotion, rather than to trust that God has a good and perfect plan for me and that he will enable me press beyond my fleeting emotion or temptation. It makes me think of the verse 1 Corinthians 10:13, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so you can stand up under it."

Up next for me is a little uncertain. I am hoping to race another 5K this May. I might have the opportunity to go to California to compete at the Oxy High Performance Meet on May 18^th. I can’t wait to race again and to compete with a stronger belief that I can run faster now that I have one race under my belt and an affirmed confidence that I have Christ strengthening me to push beyond my fleeting emotions. 

I have much more to reflect upon from the trip, but for the sake of time, I will have to share more of what I learned from my trip in my next post. Thanks for all of your prayers and support at the Peyton Jordan Invitational. It is fun to reflect on an actual race, rather than just my training! We are now officially in Track Season!!!!!