dear runner

dear runner, keep moving. one step at a time. found this calendar that i printed from my very first days of running dated august 2009, almost 4 years ago to the day…treadmill running upstairs with the television on and baby monitor buzzing in the background. my daughter Kate was 6 months at the time….i ran to lose weight, to find some time for me…something I could do BY myself on MY schedule without a babe on my hip or crazy hormones driving me wild. i ran to get away even if it was just upstairs and in my head. i had no idea that 4 years later i would have crossed 3 marathon finish lines, many 13.1 mile races and would teach and design and live a LIFE ON THE RUN. it all started with those 2 and 3 mile walk/runs that i thought would kill me…gasping and struggling and cursing the minutes. i guess its still the same…i just run farther and faster and expect the struggle, its always there because as you get better, you want more because you learn how to quite the voice of ‘i can’t’. possibilities and goals etch higher. YOUR average DEMANDS more. what has changed: i know there are good days and bad days. i run on the roads and on the trails. i run with awesome friends, a loyal dog and I run alone. i see my food as fuel. i could not imagine my life without the run. so i framed the calendar as a reminder of how far i have come….with great excitement of how much further this body will take me…and with gratitude for all the lessons that I have learnt from this simple and primitive thing called THE RUN.