Today, there were goosebumps – good and bad.
On a day I found out three little boys lost their mama to cancer (a fellow runner and friend to so many I know), a day my heart was silently crying inside for a woman and a beautiful family I hardly knew, a day I hugged my family even tighter than I normally do – my heart also experienced a gush of happiness for a woman I 100 per cent did not know.
This afternoon, under the crisp, cool sun, I went for a run. I’d been trying out different routes lately, almost all that have started off with a 7-minute up hill. A couple years ago this hill would have been no problem; I loved hills. But after two years of no hill training (last season was fairly flat, and the season before I was preggers) I’ve really kind of gotten sucky at them. Like seriously sucky. And this 7-minute hill has been a killer, I want to quit right off the hop, and the last few times now, I have quit before cresting the top. So today, I told myself I had to make it up at least three quarters before stopping. And again, it sucked, really sucked, but I wouldn’t let myself quit, I didn’t care how slow I was going, I was not going to stop, and when I finally reached my target, I thought, well hey now, I might as well keep going. And I did!
EAT THAT HELLISH HILL!!!
That hill was NOT beating me down today!
When I turned down the next road, I came upon two female flaggers and overheard one of them congratulating the other in passing. And I had this overwhelming urge to shout out a congratulations of my own, but I didn’t, I just kept going. A wandering shoelace, however, had me stopping about a kilometre or less away. Just as I was about to start running again, the woman who was being congratulated earlier drove up in her worker’s truck and got out. And without even thinking, I shouted out “Congratulations!”
I’m not gonna lie, she looked at me pretty funny, like who the hell is this sweaty chick congratulating me, and so I explained that I heard the other woman congratulating her, and I was gonna leave it at that with a big smile on both our faces. But then she told me why she was being congratulated:
After a year of uncertainties surrounding breast cancer, and multiple biopsies, her surgeon called her earlier today to tell her she was cancer free. Both of us were gushing.
Goosebumps.
TODAY’S RUN:
- 3 p.m. BG before: 7.6
- Carbs: granola bar (15g) no bolus
- Temp. basal: none
- Distance: 11.21 km
- Time: 1:05:35
- Average pace: 5:51 min/km (bit sluggish)
- 4:15 p.m. BG after: 3.7
Julie Loland was a runner, a teacher, a wife, a mom to three young boys, the oldest born around the same time as my dear nephew (the one that made me want to have a baby of my own). Her family lost her today. Her family needs help.
To learn more, visit the Loving the Lolands Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/lovingthelolands
To donate, click on the PayPal account:
https://www.facebook.com/lovingthelolands?sk=app_208195102528120&ref=woobox