I ran my first 5k this year with my best friend. As I was running the race, I started out strong with all these people surrounding me looking fresh and upbeat. As everyone turned on the first street and began to run up the hill, you could see how some of us needed to breathe a bit harder. Yet, we all kept going and ran up the hill. As we went down the hill we could breathe easier and feel some sense of accomplishment because we had one hill down and who knows how many more ahead….. As the 5k continued some people started slowing down while others continued at the same pace. I must admit, I did slow down a bit after the next hill. Yet, when I began to run down the hill I felt that rush of accomplishment from another small victory.
In life we run races……Some of us have short races while others have long races. I have been running a long race with my sweet Samuel. This race has been full of emotions that, at times, have been too hard to deal with. Next week we have another hill to run up and all of those hard, raw emotions are coming back strong. One of the things that I love about running is the fact that those hills build stamina. So the more hills that we run up, the easier it will be to run up that next hill. Many people have called, emailed, and left messages on Facebook to see how we are doing. Please forgive me for not blogging, as the last few months have been focused on Samuel and this race that we are in. The race is long, so as we face our next hill please think of us this weekend and upcoming week.
I am so thankful for my friends and family that have loved me and my three beautiful children through this race. I love the ones that have stood by us and ran next to us. When I was running that 5k this year, I remember thinking how much longer is it…..where is that damn finish line……..then I looked to the side and saw the people that I love standing there encouraging me by saying “not much longer, keep going, you are doing great, keep your head up……”. So when you are running your race, whether it is a short one or long one just remember, “It’s not much longer, Keep going, You are doing great, and Keep your head up” We all need to have those reminders along the way, so I am reminding you as my loved ones continually remind me…..as the song True Believers by Darius Rucker says:
It wasn’t easy getting here today
Sometimes you stumbled or I lost my way
But every roadblock was a chance to say;
Take my hand I’m here beside you.
I look forward to seeing the finish line for my race and also look forward to the next year, six years, sixteen years, twenty-six years and beyond……….
