Friday, May 30, 2014

Just the Six of Us

The phone rang. I picked up. My mom said, "Do you want to go to Alaska?" I said, "Of course I want to go to Alaska. You know I've always wanted to go to Alaska." She then told me my uncle and aunt had booked, she and Gary were about to, and I needed to right away. 

I asked when we were leaving? She said May 10th. "Mom! That's the day of my race!" My mom asked, "Would you rather go to Alaska or run?" I wanted both. I tried for both, but it wasn't going to work. 

It's a long story but in the middle of March, after about 18 years of being unable to run outside (suddenly started wheezing out of nowhere, couldn't breathe and an inhaler didn't help) I had once again become able. Because of this, I became a running fool. 

I really wanted to start signing up some races. My friend Sara knew and soon asked if I wanted to run my first 5K with her. I was really excited, but asked if we could do the 10? She took some time to think about it (I knew she would, because rises to any challenge) and agreed. I immediately signed us both up! 

I was ready. I had usually been running about 4 miles, but increased it to 6.2 to make sure I could complete the whole 10K. Then, 6.2 turned straight into 10 miles. I couldn't stop. I used to dread every moment of running. I could break a run down like nobody's business. I would dissect them by how many songs I had run, and further break that down by how many minutes an average song was. I'd then calculate to figure out how close I was to done, because God forbid if I looked at the time! If I did, I might quit all together. I used to run only as a means to an end. Now, I understand all those who love it! It's become infectious. It's therapy. It's much like writing for me. It clears my mind and makes me more able to carry on in a better and more productive way. I am beyond grateful that I was given back the gift of running outside. There's nothing like it. It's freedom - to go, to explore, to experience the world with all your senses.

It was a complete impromptu trip. We had two and a half weeks before leaving. I like when trips come along in this way. We were looking forward to spending time with these four! The only times we had ever traveled with them previously was to go back and forth to the brain injury institute. We knew it would be wild, but for different reasons this time!

And of course, there will always be other runs...

7 comments:

  1. Alaska. More pies. Running. You are AMAZING! I am always; thinking, hoping, and praying that you are finding your "new" life. Love the Hodder Spirit!!

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  2. Can't sleep, and sure as heck can't run, :) just here letting you know you are some kind of AMAZING like Gina said.
    My daughter laughs at me when I run (maybe 100 feet across the yard) I've never been able to run, I get out of breath real fast ,even in high school, I walked most of the track, oh well,it's something my daughter,Moriah and I can laugh about . I love to make her laugh.
    So, I would have definitely picked Alaska , at this point I would go to Harlem if I was asked and could go without worries, HAHA ;)
    It's 3:50 am and I need to get to bed, came here to check on you and let you know I think of your family often.
    cindy in nc

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  3. I recently ran in my first 5K - in fact, I just blogged about it. Audriana and I ran it together! It was awesome. What a great feeling. I can't wait to do another one.

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  4. You may be the only person I know that makes running sound appealing. I get why you love it.

    XOXO
    Dixie

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  5. I love spur of the moment trips. It seems like trips that we plan months in advance don't often materialize for one reason or another. I like "let's do this in a couple weeks" type trips because they seem to have a better chance of actually happening. So happy for ya'll you got to take a vacation with your family. That's very special.

    I can't believe you can run 10 miles! That's awesome!! I can't even run for 10 minutes! ha!

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  6. I wish I could describe the smile on my face for you finding running. SO happy for you and hope to see you out there one of these days =)

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  7. So so so so so glad you went on the trip. There will be other runs, and sure, there may have been other trips to Alaska too but I've come up with the saying "you'll never regret taking a trip but you might regret NOT taking one." You and I both know tomorrow isn't a guarantee so travel, travel, travel! And in between run, run, run! I bet you listen to country music while you run, don't you? Now I have "dontcha think your girlfriend is hot like me" stuck in my head. Is that on your playlist? Oh, I discovered iTunes radio!!!! I LOVE it!!! I've only had it a few days but so far it's fantastical! Can I tell you again how glad I am I have an iPhone? Yes, a BlackBerry was great for emails and texts and there are a few things that it could do that an iPhone can't but now I want a Mac too! I just love my Apple stuff. Huh, both of my obsessions are named after fruit, BlackBerry and Apple. I'm not a Droid person but Norm is. He has both an iPhone and Droid. I don't care for it.

    Ok, I just turned this comment into a whole email (which I did on my laptop, NOT my iPhone but I could have with my BB).

    I love you, I love you, I love you.

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