Learning to Love My Body: 10K Success!

Well, I did it! =)

I would have posted sooner but we have been enjoying our time with Steve and Patty who came for the weekend. (I'll post that next!) 

David and I ran the 10K in 1:12. David was sweet and ran at my pace--I KNOW he could have finished in half the time. For most of the race I was the very last runner, but somewhere around mile 4 we caught up with some runners who had decided to walk and ended up NOT finishing last. It meant a lot to us that Steve and Patty were there at the finish line to cheer us on! 

I was able to keep the same (albeit slow) pace for the entire race and did not stop to walk. Before I run my next long race I will need to practice grabbing water from a water station and drinking it while running--a lot of it went up my nose!

The weather was perfect and Bear Creek Lake was a picturesque place to run. I was worried that, since all of my training had been on a treadmill, I would have trouble running on the trail. There were a couple of tricky places (hilly and rocky) that I had to REALLY slow down but I stayed upright the entire time. =) 

One of the most memorable things about the day was hearing from Ani* before the race. Ani is a woman who came to the United States a year ago from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She told part of her story about what life was like for her in the DRC. She spoke about the violence of war, the raping of women, and the rejection of women by their families after they have been raped. She talked about the effects of war, violence, and rejection on women's minds, bodies, and spirits. She cried as she told us that she was a victim herself. 

And then another woman, someone who works with Women for Women International, put her arm around Ani, looked her in the eye and said something to this effect: Ani, you are a brave, brave woman. You are beautiful and courageous. What was done to you was NOT your fault. You have to remember that. It is a horrific thing that was done to you and we are so grateful that you are here to tell your story so that horrific things might be stopped. 

In a world where women's bodies are exploited, sold, violated, hypersexed, and undervalued I believe that, for women, learning to love and care for our own bodies is a theological issue. We must believe our own bodies, however well they function or however too small/too big our various parts may be, are sacred and holy. I think that this is part of the work that Women for Women International is doing in the world and I am grateful for your generous donations. (Thanks to you, David and I raised over $250!) 

So here's to Ani, here's to women, and here's to loving, loving, loving our bodies!