It Is a Gift

If you read last week's post, then you know that I was running the St Jude Country Music Half Marathon this past weekend.  I could say so much about this event but you probably wouldn't want to read that much.  I learned a couple of things along the course and was reminded of so much more too.

One of the things that I learned was that there are "only" 242 days until Christmas.  Of course, that was as of Saturday.  I also learned that there is a club of women that have tried running before but they kept spilling their wine.  You would think they would leave the wine at home during their run.  One more thing that I learned and I'll move on.  It was that some cities will put anything in the middle of a round-a-bout to get your mind off of the round-a-bout.  And that is all I have to say about that.  You'll have to ask somebody else.

Let me tell you, I have never seen so many people in one place at one time in my life!  Although I didn't care for the huge crowd, I did enjoy seeing all of the sights along the race course.  I couldn't believe all the people that had lined the streets of the route and so many signs.

One of the highlights of our stay in Nashville was getting to eat with Jeff and his family.  We went to the Rainforest Cafe and had a fabulous meal.  Another highlight was getting to reunite with Kade.  As you may recall, Kade and I finished the Rocket City Marathon together back in December.  We have stayed in contact with each other since the marathon.  It was great to see him again.

Now for the things that I was reminded.  I know that I have touched on this in the last few months but it doesn't hurt to hear it again.  I was reminded that we shouldn't take this gift of running for granted.   I think I was at about mile 4 when I saw a lady in a wheelchair just a clapping and yelling for all of the runners.  I just had to make my way over there and give her a high five.  I don't think she saw me at first but when she did, she stuck that hand out.  It made my day!

Somewhere about mile 11, I was reminded again.  This time it was a blind runner.  The blind runner was tethered to a sighted person and was being escorted by three others.  They wore bright yellow and had signs on their back identifying them.

I'm so thankful to Joy Stark for teaching me the fact that running was a gift early in my "career".  Each time you see things like the things I saw this past weekend, it comes as a reminder of that fact.

That's going to do it for me this week.  Thanks for stopping and I hope to see you again next week again.  I'll be sharing about the Coke 10K then.

To Be Helped, To Help or Both

I can hardly believe that three months have passed since I have written here.  School assignments have certainly kept me busy for all this time.  Now that I am out for the summer, I plan on writing here weekly.  It's something that I enjoy doing and looked forward to it every week until last August.

This past week I signed up for my second marathon!  I will be running the St Jude Marathon in Memphis on December 6th!  Am I excited?  Of course, I am!  Training doesn't start until the first part of August and we all know that is one of the hottest times of the year in Mississippi.  Since this past winter was so cold and I didn't get to run as much as I would have liked, I won't be complaining about the hot weather.  I'll just go out there, get my run in, and be done with it.  I already have my entire schedule planned out and with any luck, will be able to keep up with it.

Last week I posted on Facebook that I was going to post a status update but decided that the subject deserved it's very own blog post.  I wanted to get this post written and posted by Thursday but life happened and I didn't get it done.  With all the irons in the fire that I have, I love the challenge of juggling them all and keeping everything in balance...most of the time.

Over the course of a lifetime, many people come into your life.  Some stay for just a short while.  Some stay for a while longer.  Some remain for the rest of your life, while others were just passing through.  No matter how long a person stays in your life, I believe they are brought there for one of three reasons:  so you can help them, so they can help you, or both.

Over the past three and a half years, I have met so many wonderful people.  It has definitely been a journey.  Some of them I have met in person and some I haven't.  Hearing their stories have made me a better person and have changed my life for the better.  Hopefully, some of the things that I have shared have changed them in some small way too.

This brings me back to this post about running the RCM back in December.  The three new friends that I made in Huntsville that day and my running partner, Jeff, have continued to encourage me.  Since Kade, Jeri, and Dave live so far away, they encourage me from a distance and probably don't know it until now (if they read this).  As I said in that post, Jeff and I had ran many miles together and we continue to run almost every weekend together.  If not for Jeff, I'm not sure I wouldn't have just quit running for the winter and started back when the weather got warmer.  I'm glad he was there to make sure I was out there pounding that pavement now.

I could go one with so many of the folks that I have met and how they have changed my life but that'll have to wait.  You don't have the time to read all about them and I don't have the time to write about them all right now.  In the coming weeks and months, I will introduce to you some of those people.

Many members of Team Corinth are going to invade Nashville this weekend and run the St Jude Country Music Marathon/Half Marathon and I'm so looking forward to it.  I still haven't ran over 12 miles since the marathon but I be crossing that finish line of the half.  I'll share with you next week what my experience was.

Thanks for stopping and if you'd like to leave comments then feel free to do so below.