The marathon and turning 40!!

When Charissa broke her foot I was a bit worried about how I would manage to do my walking marathon.  My friend K was willing and eager to fill in for Charissa!  She did a practice route and I joined her for some of it.  

 I mentioned in a previous post that I wanted to walk around a large lake (over a marathon length) before my 40th Birthday.  I have been hearing about this hike since Brandon was in seminary as the lake is actually much closer to where we used to live than it is to where we currently live. The lake technically has a trail all the way around it with property owners maintaining the part in front of their home.  Some parts were really nice, some were just grass, some were hilly, some were wet and muddy, some were rocky.  It was a big mix of terrain.  It was not as maintained as we imagined it would be.  There were MANY huge mansions around this lake.  It was fun to see them and marvel at how huge they were.  There were also many flowers.  I regret not taking a few photos of the houses and flowers.

We had an incredible day walking, talking, and praying.  We received encouraging texts throughout the day from family and friends. We finished the route in 7.5 hours I think.  This included; a couple bathroom stops, a few course detours, and getting lost and having to call for help. 

Getting lost was a bit of a God story.  Part of the trail requires you to simply walk along a road.  We did that and then realized we were leaving the lake farther and farther behind.  We decided to stop at the top of a hill if we didn't see a sign of the path.  Well it just so happened that the place we stopped had a big sign for a youth camp I actually went to with a group of girls years ago while Brandon was in seminary.  I asked Siri for the phone number and called the camp.  I explained that I had stayed there in the past and had a strange question.  The person figured out exactly where I was and explained how to get back to the path.  It is so cool how God provided.  

Another tricky part was the water situation.  We had heard from others who did the walk in the past that there are water stations every where.  Because of this, I only took one small water bottle, as I was sure I could fill it up often. We did see drinking fountains but none of them were turned on, possibly due to covid.  Anyway, I was feeling a bit woozy at times.  Thankfully K had huge amounts of water and shared some with me.  If I do it again I will be more prepared. 

Ready to walk!

 

Finished!!!

 

 

Dirty Legs! Look at that sock line.

 

On the way home I stopped at Trader Joes to grab some almond butter for me.  I was REALLY looking forward to my version of Chocolate Moose Tracks ice cream.  It is actually frozen bananas, almond butter, cocoa powder, raw chocolate chunks, sea salt, and almond milk.  It is SO GOOD! Hmmm, I could go for some right now!

 

The first thing I did when I got home was hop in the shower.  

 

 

One more picture of the sock line!

Amazingly, I was not sore at all the following day.  I woke up and did my walk as usual.  I couldn't believe how totally unaffected I was by the big walk.  I guess my body is in good walking shape.

The only "injury" from the walk was a blister on my baby toe.  It was actually a triple blister.  It was filled with water so I popped it with a needle before taking this picture.

The deflated blister!

On the very last day of my 30's I decided to do some major weeding at church.  I spend the entire morning pulling weeds.  I had no idea there were so many!

Clearly the weeding was needed!

Interestingly, the hours of weeding were much harder on my body than the walk was.  Apparently I am not in good squatting shape!  When I woke up on my 40th Birthday I was in SO MUCH PAIN from weeding.  I felt like an old woman.  I had to laugh because it was from the weeding and not from the new age, but the timing made it feel like I was aging poorly. 

 

My Birthday was lovely.  I was greeted with gifts left on my front porch as I headed out for my morning walk! The kids had summer school and Park so I was free all day.  I took the day off of work (home and church) for the first time since before the pandemic.   It was glorious to take time to journal and read.  I even watched a Hallmark movie and cuddled with the cats. 

 

My party guests!

 

Brandon surprised me with one of the most incredible gifts I have ever gotten.  It was this book he made of 40 reasons why he loves and values me.  If you know me well you know that "words of affirmation" are my primary love language.  This gift meant so much to me.  He sat with me as I read them and we talked about them.

Once the kids came home we T made some grilled PB and J and Brandon made some grilled fajitas.  We try not to make too big of a deal about Birthdays as it can be hard on the kids.  

The only other pic from the day of the chef at the end of her summer school cooking class.

 

My 40th Birthday was not what I have imagined in my head for years.  I sort of imagined a big party with everyone celebrating this milestone.  The pandemic changed things, but I am very thankful for the way the day turned out and thankful to be over the milestone.  Just as 100% of people promised (once the aches from weeding went away), I felt just like I did at 39.  I still struggle to identify as someone in her 40's, but it doesn't sound as scary as it did a year ago.  I am thankful to be alive and for good health and a strong body that can still move well! I am not sure if I can really believe I am 40, but there isn't a single year I would want to leave out so I am thankful for each one!