Running, Faith, and Looking for Opportunities Beyond Personal Bests and Finish Lines -- with Runner and Blogger Melissa Martinez

I love to run. It's one of my favorite things to do, and more recently I recorded a podcast episode on how running has changed my life. One of my bigger accomplishments was running my first 50k about a year and a half ago with my friend and neighbor Eric Fortner at the Ft. Worth Cowtown. I loved the opportunity to test my limits and to train as much as I could with other people such as Eric. This last year I committed to run the Palo Duro 50 Mile Train Run with Eric and one of our other friends Clay Shapiro. I tell you all of this because I've just been able to come into contact with some amazing people in the running community and I continue to hear stories and come across even more. About 6 months ago Eric started telling me about a friend of his, Melissa Martinez. He talked about her passion for both running and her faith, which is something that I am passionate about as well. In the last 10 years that I have really been running I have seen such a beautiful integration of both the physical and spiritual in the act of running. So in this episode I was happy to connect with Melissa and her more about her running journey and how it inspires her faith. Melissa is an accomplished runner at all distances (Boston Marathon for one), and has lately been testing the ultrarunning distances out. So I was excited to talk with her about this and many other things. In this episode we explore: Melissa's history with running and her journey to where she is today. some key turning moments in her training and races. inspiring stories of Melissa's interactions with other runners. what she has learned from her running that applies to her faith and vice-versa. looking for opportunities beyond personal bests and finish lines during a race. her weekly/monthly training regime of running and weightlifting. her participation with Team 413 running. her blog (she posts 5 times a week about her faith and running) Resources and Links Mentioned in the Episode Grace Runner 413 (blog) Team 413 Blog post on Nick Symmonds