In October I took up running. I am not sure why. I just started and haven’t stopped. I started with the couch to 5k program and completed my first 5k at the end of the nine week plan. I ran the whole way. The program works.
The next week I began training for a 10k. I will be running that on March 27th. That is a bit more terrifying. I have committed to run it with no walking…the entire thing. In July, I will complete a half marathon. That could be a run/walk situation, we will just have to see how its going when I get closer.
I don’t know anything about running. I have no fancy running clothes or accessories. I have this thing that I put my iPhone in that straps on my arm so I can hear music. It’s broken. I taped it together with masking tape. I am kind of a hot mess when I run. I am also kind of o.k. with that.
It’s through this set of circumstances, I have become a runner. I love it. I may not be a runner in a year. Who knows. However, I can not foresee stopping. I run on average four times a week. It’s therapeutic. It’s empowering. It’s hard. I love how it makes me feel.
I have a running partner. She is a mama of four just like me. She’s fantastic. We run together 1-2 times a week. I love running with her, but I also love running alone.
Today was an alone day.
I love running together because we talk and solve the worlds problems and discuss all the stuff that girls do.
I love running alone because it’s me and the pavement, music in my ears, and nothing else.
My playlist is all over the place. I have everything from Def Leopard to J Lo to Daughtry to Lincoln Brewster with a little Gaga thrown in. I frequently set playlists. However, today I put my phone on random.
Enter Miley. Ready Set Don’t Go comes on. I have heard the whole song maybe two times….ever. Within 30 seconds I am crying. Me, the pavement, my phone, and my tears are running in some fancy schmancy neighborhood near my home.
It’s just one of those silly little songs. A duet between Miley and Billy Ray. A song about her leaving home in pursuit of her dreams. Despite your love or hatred for the Cyrus Duo, it can be an emotional topic. It’s amazing to think you raise these kids TO LEAVE YOU. Beautiful and so lame, all at the same time, right?
My tears were not due to the topic of the song. Although, if I start thinking about my babies leaving home, you might find me fetal in the corner of a bathroom somewhere. Just Maybe.
My tears were unexpected. I just had a moment of true deep contentment for where I am in my life. I made some personal decisions this past week that brought me a lot of peace. God picked me up 2 years ago and set me on a new path. I didn’t want to be picked up and I didn’t like the new path. Today I cry with gratitude that my Jesus knows me better than I know myself and He has the whole world in His hands.
She’s at the startin’ line of the rest of her life. As ready as she’s ever been.
Got the hunger and the stars in her eyes. The prize is hers to win.
I am excited about this year and what it will bring. I have new direction, new commitments, goals, and peace. I used to think as a teen that I was going to go out there and change the world one day. I was getting frustrated approaching 40 feeling like my goals and dreams weren’t happening.
You know what I’ve realized? I AM changing the world. Four little hearts at a time. All the while, with the heartbeat of the man I love beside me.
There are moments in life that I think…”If five years ago, you would have told me that I would be here today, I wouldn’t have believed you.”
Today was one of them. Fifty minutes into a run and crying to a Hannah Montana tune. Not hardly.
Darn Miley.