Running For My Life – Part 3

I was walking my bike up towards the cop. In my altered state of consciousness, I thought that I needed to get on my bike and ride passed the cop because this was a race and I could get into trouble for not riding my bike. So just when I got up to him, I hopped on my bike to ride. As I came upon him, he put up his hand to stop me. Now I knew I was in big trouble. A cop was stopping me. He might arrest me for not riding my bike. He said he wanted to talk to me. He asked me if I was okay? I said I didn’t know. He asked me to follow his finger with my eyes. I thought I did, but he told me to wait right there. I guess I didn’t pass the finger test. He told me my health wasn’t worth the race. He told me one of the race administrators would be along soon and I could get a ride with him. I was so out of it, I just nodded and stood there shakily.

Soon, a big truck came by and the cop stopped him and said I needed a ride. The guy got out of his truck and gave me a bottle of iced water. I sucked it down like the dehydrated person I was. He handed me another bottle. It wasn’t cold, but it still tasted good. He lifted my bike into the back of his truck. He said, “Whoa, this is a heavy bike…no wonder you couldn’t ride it.” The air conditioner in his truck was on full blast. I just sat there. Not saying anything.

He was picking up the cones on the race path. He said he could bring me back to the race and I could finish if I felt like it. He didn’t make me feel like a loser. He didn’t make me feel stupid. He just offered the suggestion that if I felt better, he would drop me off and I could finish. That it was all okay. Thank you friend. I’m feeling okay. The water, the goo, the air conditioner were all making me feel okay.

He dropped me off at the top of the hill and I rode down the hill on my bike to the racks. My daughter caught me there to cheer me on. I parked my bike in the rack and was determined to finish the face. I decided I would walk the 5K rather than run. I was feeling better, but the exhaustion was still with me. I wanted to finish the race really badly, but my body wasn’t cooperating. As I headed to the running path my body kept telling me to quit. But my mind and heart kept telling me not to quit. I was having this back and forth in my head when I suddenly got distracted with a hummingbird. There were no flowers or greenery anywhere near the path, it was just dirt. The hummingbird just hung in the air in front of me. I like hummingbirds. I stopped the argument in my head and stared at the bird. As I moved forward the hummingbird flew forward. It would then hang in the air as if it was waiting for me. I would catch up, and the bird would fly forward. We did this little dance until I was right smack into the race. It would take as much time to go back as it would to go forward. I realized this as my hummingbird friend flew away.

Suddenly this older woman in pink shorts runs right up along side of me. She started chatting with me and stopped running so she could walk with me. I asked her if she was part of the race and she said no. She’s done the race in the past, but she decided not to do it this year. She kept telling me I was okay and that I was doing well. She kept talking to me and kept me going. She walked with me the entire 5K until I could see my family up ahead waiting for me near the finish line. I said, “Oh, there’s my family up ahead.” I started moving towards them when my friend in the pink shorts disappeared. I don’t know where she went. But my family were smiling and waving me in, so I kept on going. They really bullied my spirits. I could see the finish line. I was going to finish. I crossed the line and they handed me a medal. I did it.

I went to go sit under a tree. My heart was still racing and I felt sick to my stomach. A friend who was also running the race wanted to take a picture with me. I smiled, but I felt like I was going to throw up. I was really dizzy too. I couldn’t wait to just go to our air conditioned car and sit. I was also craving a coke.

When I got home, I googled the symptoms I experienced on the race. I was having heat stroke. And heat stroke is apparently really bad. You can go into a coma once you pass out. One of the biggest signs of heat stroke is no sweating. You see, I just couldn’t take the heat and without water – it was the perfect storm. All of my husband’s fears had come to fruition.

But I didn’t die. I didn’t slip into a coma. God in His infinite kindness guided me through the whole race. He sent me a hummingbird, a stranger in pink shorts, and my family to guide my way. And I’m so grateful. And I have to tell you, I wasn’t last in the race either.