I like to run alone.  I admit it.  I’ll run in the morning or at night.  With heavy traffic or on those back country roads.  It doesn’t bother me, nor do I ever feel lonely.  Running alone gives one time to think, especially if you’re running a long way:)  Sometimes things just seem clearer when you’re running.  You get away from the cellphone, computers, Facebook or blogging – lol.  It can also become a struggle.  When you’re not feeling up to par, you find yourself making deals with yourself – “If I can just make it to the end of the road; two more miles, maybe if I just slow down and regroup”.  All of these things that go through your head, the deals and the compromises.  It’s quite a mental workout.

Last summer, as I was training for my first half-marathon, I started my run early in the morning hoping to finish 13 for the first time in a long, long time.  Everything was going great until mile 8 and then I hit a brick wall.  It was really strange because I’ve never felt like this before; my legs just stopped.  I literally couldn’t move forward, then I started breathing heavy and my vision went white.  Believe it or not I still tried to move forward in this condition.  I had consumed all my water and was very thirsty.  At that point a little bit of fear ran through me.  I wondered am I having a heart attack, what?  I had to sit down on the side of the road.  I just sat there for 15 minutes, cars whizzing by.  I wondered what people were thinking.  Look at that lady on the side of the road, is she drunk or crazy.  Unfortunately, no one stopped.  Sometimes it makes you wonder, but such is life.  After 15 minutes of rest I continued on and finished.

I finally decided since I’ll be going on more of these adventures that I would invest in a Road ID and no not because I’m getting older.  I really love this little bracelet.  It has all my vitals incase I pass out somewhere and if any body does stop, well they can call for backup.  Ha!

Keep on moving!

Courage

I’ve been thinking about courage a lot these last few weeks, due to the end of a treasured friendship.  Courage by definition:

mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.

To me, courage comes in the form of, mental, physical, and moral judgment just to name a few.  The way we react and handle situations in our daily life requires courage.  How we treat those that are close to us and the random stranger on the street requires courage.

Courage and friendship go hand in hand.  When you are truly friends and care about someone you don’t think twice about being there for that person even if the situation is difficult.  When the going gets tough or there is conflict and confusion within a friendship we use courage to talk it out, to try to find that common ground.  We don’t hide, we face our issues head on.  We look that person in the eye because they are our friend, we value that relationship and we have courage to give them that dignity and respect.  We tell them what’s bothering us and how can we rectify the situation to move forward to a better place.  We allow the other person the respect of telling their side of the issue.  We always speak to that person face to face, not hiding behind electronic media to do our dirty work for us.  We don’t erase or throw away memories.  When we respect our friendships we don’t burn our bridges.  Sometimes we walk away, but we always come back to mend the fence.  This requires courage.

Three simple words with a very powerful impact.  If you are coming across this blog by chance, let me warn you outright –   this is a very personal blog.  Although it is about my running journey, I blog about my life experiences as well here, and how it affects me as a person.  My running and other activities to reach my mileage goal help me contemplate on those everyday issues.  I share this not only for spiritual growth and healing, but with others who have the same passion and interest.  Some posts will be filled with joy, laughter and triumph.  Others no doubt will be raw and lay to bare.  There are only a handful of people I have personally told about this blog.  It does show up on my Facebook page so those individuals that are my friends will know when I post. These are my words.  It is not my intent to gain visitors through my posts.  I’m not concerned with grammar, past tense or present tense usage.  Frankly, I don’t really care.  Occasionally, I will misspell something I’m sure.  You can email me about it, maybe I’ll catch it and make the correction.  Not really the intent of this blog.

We have all heard these words in some form or another.  Never.Give.Up.  Those three words can mean many things to different people.  These three words aren’t new to me, I’ve heard them so many times and in so many parts of my life.  Spiritual, mental and physical.  A lot of times it’s what keeps me going.  As, we age and those aches and pains start to creep in, it’s easy to want to give up on many of the physical things we used to do in our youth.  For some of us it’s disheartening.

When I first began running I was doing great.  Feeling pretty good about myself, I decided to run up this large hill then back down it.  While running down the hill I tore my meniscus on both sides of my knee.  Being the somewhat stubborn person I am I ran and ran until I needed to go to the doctor.  In November 2011 I had knee surgery.  Thus began the long journey to recover from surgery and slowly get back into running.

Some people have said it’s crazy to continue on this path.  That somewhere down the line I’m really going to pay.  But what is life if you can’t be a little crazy?    The only thing that was going through my mind and continues is Never.Give.Up.  I will admit, I do get the occasional pain and I know my journey is long, but I can’t give up.  I will never give up.  It’s not in my mental makeup.  Never.Give.Up – on family or friends.  Even if you are confused about things, never give up.

I’ve attached this photo that I received from Col. Montero when I was at the Transportation School in 1992.  This should visually put this post in perspective.

Never.Give.Up – Don’t.

This is so true.  I hope everyone is having a great Thursday.

I’ve never been one for Valentine’s Day. Honestly, the holiday can cause too much anxiety. Finding that perfect gift for that perfect someone can be a daunting task. So you may ask, what does this post really have to do with running? Monday I ran 6 miles and as I was running past a neighborhood lake, the sun was setting as the ducks were still swimming and it was a wonderful 45 degrees. I did something that I normally don’t do because I’m either thinking about this or that or concentrating on my run. I stopped to take in this lovely view. I realized that there is no material object that you can receive that would ever top a nice sunset. Except the gift of the written word. Words have a way of expressing feelings and uplifting the soul.

I wanted to regift, so to speak, and respond to a wonderful email that I received. It simply said – “You are a radiant light and should shine as such”. It was such a beautiful sentiment and I’m deeply humbled by that comment. I’m extremely, lucky to have a great group of women in my life. They are the essence of “true friends” in every way. Thank you for an early Valentine’s gift. You know who you are…:)

Keep on running

Today I had the opportunity to sit in the worst seat on the plane to Texas, thy name is 18A. Not the exit seat, no even better…the lavatory seat! That’s right friends, you won’t find a more crappy seat, lol.

Thanks United for trying to milk every penny you can get by putting a seat next to the only lavatory on the plane.

The bathroom traffic at the beginning of the flight was light until the morning drinks were served, then they started lining up one-by-one. It’s always funny to watch the whole thought process as an individual decides they need to get up and use the lavatory on a plane. You can almost see the wheels turning in their head; can I hold it, should I get up now, is the lavatory occupied then slowly they begin the walk from the front of the plane to the back. If you look at their faces it’s like they’re walking the Green Mile. Honestly, I don’t blame them have you ever seen the lavatory on the plane?

One-by-one they came and went, literally and with every door swish I had the opportunity to really experience the slamming of the door and of course, the aroma. Then there was the gentleman who decided to use the facilities as the plane was landing. The steward didn’t appreciate this and decided to continually knock on the door. Then something magical happened, the steward lifted the little vacant sign and underneath it was a secret lock that could open the lavatory! Whoa! Never knew this existed! So the steward opened the door on the unsuspecting gentleman and asked him to return to his seat.

Classic – happy Friday!