Quote of the Day: “The poor man is not he who is without a cent, but he who is without a dream.” Henry Kemp
This morning Sue, Cokie and I ran through Holladay. It was a dark morning. I have gotten into the habit of wearing a headlamp on my hat. It serves two purposes, it illuminates the way and may alert a car to us runners on the road. We traveled down dark alleys and through pathways, a route I would never run alone in the dark, maybe not even in the light. It’s amazing how brave you become with companions by your side. We ran by dogs with fierce barks, relieved to see their shining eyes behind a fence. We are training for the St. George Marathon on October 6, about 9 days away. Sue and I continued on and completed 10.64 miles. This will be my 10th St. George, making me an official member of the 10 Year Club when I finish the marathon. I love this marathon, the red rock and gorgeous canyon walls but it will be a test for my foot. Much of the course is downhill, especially after mile 20, which you would think a runner would welcome, and normally I would, but the downhill is hard on my foot. I’m ok if I walk, but all marathoners would love to run the entire distance. That’s a thing of the past for me but the good news is that you’re never alone, someone is always walking a part of the course. And so, I will muster up all my strength for that morning, toe-up to the starting line and try to accomplish marathon # 29, making me one marathon away from my new lifetime goal of 30.
If my foot would allow me to run more, I think I would keep signing up for marathons because there is always this hope that I can get leaner, stronger, faster. My experience would prove that when you finish a marathon, you definitely swear them off forever until about a week later when this desire starts within you, this desire to improve, this desire to run faster, this desire to quality for Boston. I actually had a dream about a month ago that I was running fast without effort. I awoke so pleased with my dream, wanting so badly for it to be true. Mostly, what I love about the marathon is what it teaches you about yourself. How you think you can’t take another step, and somehow you find a way, how you feel so discouraged one moment and then overjoyed the next. It’s like all these emotions converge on you for those hours that you’re on the course and you have to deal with them. Just like in life, got to deal with them.
And every time I think my life is comprised of just a bunch of random experiences, something will happen and I will be taught about the power of coincidence. This morning, after my run, I headed to the store for groceries. Walking out of the store, I noticed a woman getting out of a car, and surprisingly she looked a lot like my friend, Laurie Burt who lives in San Diego. Well, wouldn’t you know it, it was Laurie with husband Kelly. If I had been 10 seconds earlier, I would have missed them. I think about chance meetings like this a lot and wonder how it is that we get to the same place in time without planning. And that gets me thinking about whether our lives fit into a pattern. Are we directed to be in certain places at certain times to help or be helped? And how does that all work anyway? What if we mess up and don’t get to that place or refuse to listen to the spirit directing us? And finally, do we get a second or third chance? I don’t know the answer to all these questions but I do know that this universe is much bigger than myself and all of us fit together in it somehow.
Laurie and I getting pedicures last time she was in Salt Lake.
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