We Were Out There

This morning I started my run a lot later than usual. I couldn't get out of bed. It was Saturday, no kids to get to school, my day to sleep in. I almost didn't go. But I have a race coming up that I paid good money to run in, so I threw on my gear and headed out the door.

I walked to my starting place and as I waited for my running watch to acquire it's satellite signal, I questioned again if I really wanted to do this today. It was already hot, I had forgotten my gum, and I could feel the cottonmouth already setting in. My goal I was trying for wasn't coming as easy as I wanted and I didn't feel any closer to reaching it today. The GPS signal sounded from my watch, so I figured "what the heck" and I took off.

I passed my friend Margaret on my way to the trail and she asked how I was? "Sleepy" I replied. She responded back "But at least you're out on a Saturday." Yep, at least I was out there.

It didn't take long to be glad I had gone. It was comedy central on the trail this morning! There were the ladies pushing strollers whose mouths went 2 times faster than their legs. Or the guy dressed from head to toe in expensive Nike running gear- smoking a cigarette. And last, but certainly not least, the two young adults running with their healthy bottled water, KING SIZE TWIX BAR & TWINKIES! A little counterproductive, I think, but what do I know. Maybe that's the secret to great running!

I laughed.

Then Margaret's words popped in my head "at least they're out there." That's what mattered. We were all out there trying to do something good with the bodies we had been given.

Okay, so for some of us that was only partly true. But at least we were trying.

I don't know if it was this little thought that spurred me on through the heat and cottonmouth or the endorphins produced when I laughed, but I made my goal. I finally made it through 7 miles in 1hr. 2 min. & 28 seconds.

I was glad I was out there!

Me with Emma after running my last race the 4th of July "Freedom Run."