Running

Running is a safe place for me.  It's a time for me to forget about all the stuff I have going on, and to focus on the here and now.  It's a time where I zone out, think about the friends I haven't checked in with, wonder about the friends I've lost touch with, randomly remember that it's Teacher Appreciation WEEK (yes, week) and that I have bought nothing for Sawyer to bring to his teacher.  When I'm training for a race, even one as lame as a local 5k, I take it seriously and listen to my body and take special care of my shins and back so I can push myself further because I love it.  Running sets me free.

I've decided to hang my bibs up in my office.  I'm hoping to one day have this wall full!

I can't imagine being in that zone, my safe and sacred running zone, and suddenly find myself in the middle of an explosion.

I won't lie - I felt like I was watching scenes from 9/11.  People wandering around with dazed looks, screaming horrible sounds that didn't sound human, and the chaos that was all around the finish line was all to familiar.  It just hit home to the 20 year old girl that watched two towers crumble and life change in the blink of an eye. Finding out that one of the dead was an 8 year old child gave me chills, and brought tears to my eyes because I know that their life was cut short by someone else's selfishness.  Why anyone thought to do something as horrific as this blows my mind.  It has rocked the country, and more intimately the running world.  Runners, as I'm finding out, are a special crew.  I'm a newbie and by no means earned my spot at the front of the starting line, but it's mine and I own it more than I ever thought possible.  Its the simple nod when you pass someone while running the trails, or the look you give to your neighbor as you are hopping off a particularly long run on the treadmill and they are about to start.  We all start at the same place and end up there, too - so proud to pound the pavement, and love chasing the runner's high again and again.  I can't wrap my head around running a marathon, and at this moment in time have no aspirations in doing so, but my hat is tipped to those who have.  If I break down and ugly cry after a simple 5k, I don't know what in the hell would happen after running 26.2.  It just breaks my heart that someone ruined that moment for so many people.  People who gave up sleeping in, seeing their kids right after work, and weekend soccer games so they could get their long runs in.  Dedication, determination and now redemption is what is needed for 2014.  Prayers tonight and every night for those who loved and lost today in Boston.

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