20 miles: fought, and won.

20 miles. 

20 MILES. 

20 FREAKIN’ MILES!

…holy crap, we actually hit super-ridiculous double-digits this morning. 

Sorry — I had to repeat that a few times to literally remind myself that we just nailed our (first) 20 miler. 

Not that I need much reminding — my entire body is legit screaming at me right now, it hates me, I’m convinced. Everything. Hurts.
…but guess how much that pain was worth to me today? Every. Single. Mile — WORTH. IT. 

Now that I’ve had time to let the concept of running 20 miles digest a bit (and I’ve eaten my weight in oatmeal, thankyouverymuch), I am completely in awe. Not just of what our bodies are capable of if we trust them enough, but that once again, we did this together.

…and this time we had a TON of beautiful (virtual) sherpas with us. 
Case in point:

(what you can’t see is who commented on Heather’s post in particular – there was lots of love being shared around from fellow blog besties Dorry, Sarena, and my sister.)

I mean really — if that’s not enough to make a girl smile her silliest grin ever as she drifted off to sleep last night, I don’t what is. These ladies are seriously amazing. I sensed every single one of you by our side this morning. And in fact, I know God was working his wonders as usual when I saw not one, not two, not three — but NINE bunnies all in a cluster in one particular neighborhood about five miles into our run. To me it was as clear as day — God was showing me physical proof that my virtual sherpa friends were with us, cheering us on, running ‘beside’ us and giving us the extra strength we needed to push through the pain.

And we REALLY needed that support today. 20 miles hurts. It hurts a LOT. And lucky for me (lol), I totally hit a wall about 10-12 miles in. Not pretty at all. Thank God I had such wonderful virtual sherpa’s pushing us through, and the incredible love and support of Scott beside me pushing me with his words but also just with his sheer presence beside me — so comforting at times, and at other times seeing him struggle and overcome the urge to give up was all that I needed to keep up the good fight. He is so good to me, I just adore him. ❤

So yeah — today, I’m feeling all over the place with my emotions, post-20 miler:

Joy — that we continue to learn so much about ourselves, about eachother, each time we set foot out there for our long run

Pride — that we overcame the dreaded wall today and pushed through all the way to the end. No stopping. No walk breaks. No nothing. The Sutera’s? We don’t give up. Ever.

Confidence — that we *will* make it all 26.2 miles on October 7 (though, to say that those last 6.2 miles is going to take sheer willpower to get through? Um yeah, cannot fathom how much *more* that’ll hurt…)

Gratitude — Scott and I are literally surrounded by virtual sherpas both near and far who love us, who support us, who lift us up just when we need it. I am thankful for each one of you. So much more than I could possibly frame with words properly.

Faith — I never, ever, ever expected to have my faith renewed the way it has through this journey. My faith in God is stronger and more apparent than ever. I see and sense Him so much more strongly today. And our faith in eachother? Again — I have no words. Through this journey, I have fallen deeper in love with Scott, more committed and dedicated to him and our relationship than ever, and more proud of how strong we are as a couple. Adoration, through and through. ❤

So even though we look rather beat up in this picture of us just after we got home after our 20 miler today? I’d call today’s run a fight worth fighting as hard as ever for. Worth it, worth it, worth it.