This morning marks a new PR for my longest run yet-18 miles. I left before the sun, ran by your house (18 miles is a long way), got honked at a few times by some people I know and some I don't, laughed a little, cried a little, sang to myself, watched the sun rise, saw my shadow reflected beside me, thanked God for my life, struggled up a few hills, ran fast down some other hills, and generally enjoyed the whole darn thing, believe it or not.
Those 2 hours and 43 minutes afforded me some much-needed silence and solitude to think about something other than myself. This morning as I was lacing up my running shoes Cameron, who had gotten up uncharacteristically early, said "Mom, have you run the race yet where you spend money for Davis?" I'm so pleased that he asked this question; I often feel I'm not setting a good charitable or philanthropic example for my kids. Doing dishes and folding laundry is hardly charitable, and though it's necessary to keep our house going, I would ideally like for my kids to see their dad and me as more than two people who go to work and do laundry. So it was a good start to the day, knowing that he at least gets that I'm running for something bigger than us.
I ran by Davis' house in the first 10 minutes. I did so in an effort to meditate and think about him, and I found myself crying before I even got to his house. Running brings everything so close to the surface; my skin gets really thin and whatever I'm holding onto reveals itself. I thought about stopping to say good morning and that at least made me laugh...which made my breathing that much harder to regulate. Anyone who runs knows that the first mile is tough in many ways-you're trying to regulate breathing, set a pace, work out the kinks, etc. So to start out crying wasn't exactly ideal, but as with most things, the hearty dose of perspective I got from the meditating and thinking about Davis and his family made my little asthmatic and spazmatic breathing problems seem inconsequential.
I got it together, thankfully, and obviously enjoyed the run.
In other news and perhaps by way of explanation for my lack of writing, Boy #1 on the left got his 3rd set of tubes on Monday and keeps proclaiming that everything is "SO LOUD!", Boy #2 finally started 4k and got new light-up tennis shoes, and Boy #3 turned 2 last week. It's been busy, but it's been healthy and good, so no complaints here.
Photo by Susan Edwards
2 comments:
Hey Kel, remember about eight years ago you and I used to get up and teach our 8 am classes at the same time. Well, seems we're still on the same schedule. I go up at 4:30 this morning and was running through the streets of Raleigh before the sun was up. I love running in the pre-dawn hours because it is so easy to step outside of yourself and think about the less mundane aspects of life. I am so happy that I have found running and really enjoy reading your blog!
Nice work on the run Kelly. Very impressive. I would definitely struggle on a 2 hour and 43 minute run. Great job. Rest up now and recover for the next one, or should I say, run?
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