Running with purpose

Day 19.

I love to run...usually.

There's something about running that feels so freeing. I am so connected to my mind and my body. My feet hit the pavement in a hypnotic rhythm and I relish the moment when I push off the ground propelling myself further. You see, I love to be in control, and this fulfills that for me.

I am currently training for a few half marathons I am doing this year and as much as I love working towards something, I feel less in control when I "have" to run a certain mileage each day. I can't just go run for however long I want to, I have to follow the training schedule I have set up.

Yesterday I was running on the treadmill (thanks winter), and I started to get really bored. The aerobics class that I had been watching for the first 4 miles had ended and so now I was looking at an empty room in front of me. It crossed my mind a few times to just stop and do something else or find Eric and go home and eat some leftover ice cream cake (I ended up doing that later anyway).

 I have a strategy for these moments. I once read in one of my running books that when you run or workout in any way, you should wear something small on your person that encourages you to keep going when you don't want to. What inspires me when I'm running you ask?

Here it is: HOPE

This bracelet is from my friend Joanna, who is battling beating cancer right now. She's a runner like me, craves it, loves it. But she's not running right now. But I can. And so I will run for us both. Not because I feel sorry for her, but because she inspires me not to take anything for granted. She encourages me every moment of every day to treat life as a gift, no matter what it brings us. 

And so I run for her and I run for me and let me tell you, when you are running for someone you love, you could run 100 or more miles and never give up.