Posers

SUPER MOM!

Some run are easier than others. Some days I bound out of bed easy eager to get out on the path (ok not really!) and others I find every way to distract myself. Yesterday it was going to be hot and I know I needed to get out early but was still struggling while I checked my email. There was an email from a friend with a link to a FB page. I clicked, started reading and was instantly motivated. Here is the link I was sent...  Super mom and fighter boy!

A mom on Michigan was going to run on the treadmill during the entire time her young son was having brain surgery... An estimated 8 hours. I thought to myself, if she could manage her stress by running on the treadmill then I could surely manage 3 miles in the heat. I had not been having good runs lately and thought this was just the motivation I needed.

I filled up my water bottle and headed out into the furnace that is a Chicago summer day. The first part of the run was tough. Everything hurt and my muscles were not cooperating with my mind an heart. With each footfall I cursed the run. I wanted to give up and go back home. It was just too difficult to find my groove. Then I turned a corner...literally and figuratively. Coming towards me was a mom pushing a child in a stroller. They were laughing and smiling...suddenly I was reminded of the email earlier in the day. The steps didn't get easier but now they had new purpose. I put myself in the place of that worried mother. I put myself in place of every parent of a sick or special needs child. Their steps are never easy nor light. I picked up my glacial pace to turtle and kept moving forward. At my usual turn back, I turned the other way and ran away from home. I knew that this would add miles but I was deep into my own thoughts. My mind had found its groove. The body was struggling to keep up.

I had not planned to run as far as I did and needed a water refill so I dropped into my local Dunkin Donuts. Thank goodness I am a regular and the employees know me. They gladly refilled my bottle with water and ice and I set off again back into the furnace.

Some runs are finished only because my body says so and other runs because my mind says so and then other runs are finished by my heart. This run was all about mind and heart. Body was not interested but was forced to cooperate against its will.

I returned home after 6 hot, sweaty,  inspired,  prayer filled, grateful miles with a heart and mind filled up. I thought about super mom and fighter boy. They are the true endurance athletes. The rest of us are posers. Peace.