Songs to Walk By

Songs can be inspiring, uplifting, empowering, and can you power you through a rough patch.  On the eve of my walking half marathon (where my mantra will be don’t run, don’t run, don’t run), I’d like to share with you a few of the songs that got me through training for this half (and hopefully after tomorrow they will have gotten me through this half!).   There is a detectable thread running through my song choices of what I will call redemption.  Or detectable to me.  I am being redeemed from the ashes of my injury.  I may not be as fast as I was (and I was never that fast), but I have come back to a different place.  One that is different than where I was 9 months ago, but one that I can still go out and do a half marathon, even if it is pure walking.  It does seem quite dramatic, and perhaps overly dramatic to those looking in, but in my world there has been an element of drama.  Probably because I do tend to be dramatic! :)  But I haven’t been myself really since that day on an Italian cliff.  (For any new readers, I was hiking in Italy and long story short, fell off the path or cliff, tearing my MCL in the process.)  It may seem as if I have been complaining about my knee for a long time now.  And that would be correct.  I don't think I really expected it would take 9+ months for me to feel almost "normal" again.  I think I've been going through a little bit of an identity crisis.  Before I was the girl who traveled and did races.  What was I now?  While I'm still not running (and won't be until December) I've started reclaiming a little of what I lost.  In the grand scheme of things, a knee injury that didn't hamper to me may not seem that big to another person, and I realize that.  I'm trying to explain my mindset.  But I had really embraced this new me who had started to make a lot of progress in my running journey.

Just as I was proving to myself I could do a triathlon (albeit at a slower pace) I am now proving to myself I can do a half marathon.

Without further adieu, my top few songs that will be powering me through tomorrow:

• Never Say Never by Justin Bieber (I will never say never, I will fight til forever…whenever you knock me down, I will not stay on the ground – self explanatory, this knee injury will not keep me on the ground)
• Breakthrough by Lemonade Mouth (sometimes its proving to the world it was wrong…don’t stop till you break it on through – cheesy Disney song?  Check!  But seriously, I’m ready for a breakthrough!  I’m going to break it on through to the finish line!)
• Get Back Up by tobyMac (it’s never too late to get back up again, you may be knocked down, but not out forever – that’s right, I CAN and WILL get back up again)
• Kiss it Goodbye by Hannah Montana (kiss it goodbye, if fear is holding you back - another Disney song?  You know it!  But I'm definitely kissing the fear goodbye.)
• All I Need (feat. Kevin Rudolph) by Natasha Bedingfield (that’s why all I need is what I’ve got – sometimes it is focusing on what you have, rather than what you don’t – plus this song rocks my socks!)
• One Shining Moment by David Barrett (one shining moment, you reached deep inside...it's more than a contest, it's more than a race - I get goosebumps every time I hear this song.  It's my favorite part of March Madness.  Every year I wait for all the commercials and watch the winning team cut down the  nets just to listen to this song.)
• Our God by Crossroads (And if our God is for us, then what can stop us, and if our God is with us, then what can stand against – there is someone on my side, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me)
• Just Dance by Lady Gaga (no real reason this on here except sometimes you gotta just dance and this song always puts a smile on my face)

And with that, I'd better go make sure my iPod (and Garmin) are all charged and ready to go for tomorrow!!