Thank you, God

The past few days have been quite a whirlwind. Honestly, it is wonderful to be sitting here in the living room with my feet propped on the coffee table.

On Wednesday evening, Nick and I ventured up to the chiropractor. (This trip in itself turned out to be quite humorous and featured a vocal performance by Ben. K. To avoid digressing too much, I'll get back to the main point.) Upon returning, I noticed that my brother's car and brother-in-law's truck were parked on the street in front of the house. This is not totally unusual because Jenn makes dinner for them from time to time. However, she typically would have mentioned that we were having them over for dinner. As I walked up to the front door, though, I could see more of our friends through the front windows. Jenn had put together a surprise pasta party in anticipation of Saturday's run. Surrounded by friends and family, we enjoyed some amazing spaghetti, breadsticks, salad, and brownies.

On Saturday, around mile 24, the love and support of my wonderful wife, friends, and family started pouring out as tears. All, I could do was just say, "Thank you, God. Thank you, God."

Later, Jenn asked me about what I thought about during the run.

Here are some of the thoughts.

I thought about my wonderful wife and her encouragement. I pictured her riding her bike during training and offering much needed water.

I thought about some of my closest friends and my gratitude for them. I prayed for those struggling with health issues.

I sang "You Are My Strength" and pictured a group of friends singing the same song at a little church in Wisconsin.

I thought about seeing "Marathon" on my mom's refrigerator calendar and "Run, Todd, Run" on the poster in our living room.

I thought about long bike rides with friends in Bremen and Rensselaer.

I thought about running in the mountains of Vermont.

I thought about Kerry, also running in the marathon, and her encouragement.

And yes, by mile 24, all that I could say was, "Thank you, God."