2020 Thankful For My Blessings Run
Pre-Run Mumbo Jumbo
The purpose of this run initially was to hopefully jump start some training for myself and maybe a few others here. Obviously this year has been rough, and despite all that I have tried to stay positive as much as possible.
My kids are dependent on it, even though my insides and stress level have been in turmoil since all this Covid started. So the point for me today was just take some time and think about what is really important and be thankful for that.
My training coming up to this has been spotty, as you all can see everyday by my lack of Strava entries, so today was just all about running 13.1 miles. Diet was great all week, evidenced my single pre-run dump that was perfection. Had no issues the rest of the run with my GI tract. So it was good to see I still have that dialed in for a race.
Woke up a really stiff back that never loosened up this whole run, and is still hurting now. In addition, my heart rate was about 30 beats higher at go time. Not good. It never really did abate during the run, so I knew pretty quick I wasn't coming in under two hours. No matter - that wasn't what this day was about.
Mile 1: On this mile I was thankful for my mother. When I was 9 my parents divorced, and I'll never forget those nights for a year where she would wail at night out of sadness due to the betrayal of my dad. She never knew we heard her, but she would somehow pull it together every morning to take care of us. And she would just go, day after day, doing her best on a single income (with later help from my dad) to feed and clothe 3 boys. I don't know how she did it, but she did. We had some lean years, and a lot of hot dogs and pork and beans, and even a few very empty Christmas mornings, but we survived. I thank her for everything she did for us.
Mile 2: So about my brothers - the three of us are as close as three brothers could ever be. And we still are to this day. We went through some ####, man....and came out the other side as productive men and respectful men. I'm thankful that we can still text and talk every week and flip each other #### - because that's what brothers do! But we all know we have each others back no matter what.
Mile 3: I thought about how I even got into this in the first place, and every once in awhile when I see my neighbor I thank her for getting the ball rolling on this. I doubt I would have ever started running without her push (and it was pretty easy to follow her around), but that's the kick I needed. I am forever in debt to her for that. Since that first day I have lost about 20 pounds and have never put it back on. That was 8 years ago.
Mile 4: This was
@gruecd's mile, because right about here I was thinking "man, I just don't feel that great today." Yet all that came back at me was grue's voice: "don't be a poooosay. this was your stupid idea." So thanks, I guess.......
Mile 5: My wife's turn. She has pretty much let me run when I want and how long I want without too much complaint. (though
@Juxtatarot is a witness that I was close to the edge with that last marathon training). But she is the rock that holds my family together. This woman saved me 18 years ago, and has continued to support everything I do. I am not exaggerating when I say I might be dead if I hadn't met her.
Mile 6: My kids are starting to come to mind now, and I'm thankful for the way they have grown up. They are respectful to other people, and are great students in school. Probably the greatest compliment I have ever received was a few years ago, and we saw the school lunch lady at a restaurant. We went over to say hi, and she said to my wife and I: "I just want you to know that your kids are the only ones in school that say please and thank you every time they come through my line." They are great kids and I'm looking forward to seeing their continued growth.
Mile 7: This mile was Purple Larry's entry into my mind. You might recall my friend Larry that I posted about a few months back that passed away from cancer. This guy taught me how to work and how to be a man - something my dad never did. I owe a debt of gratitude to him, and I am thankful I got to say those words to him before he passed away.
Mile 8: This was the mile where I realized God sent me on this run for a reason. I was running through my old neighborhood, and saw an older person struggling to remove something from his car. He had a two wheel cart there, so he was trying to load some stuff apparently so he could take it to the house. I stopped and yelled over if he needed some help. He said sure so I walked over and put my mask on. Turns out he has Parkinson's, and was trying to move a large case of Costco waters and a case of bleach and couple other heavy items. I ended up helping him get everything to his back door. We talked a couple of minutes, wished each other Happy Thanksgiving, and off I went. I tell this story only because as we move around in our lives, there are always opportunities to help someone or be kind to someone. I don't always "act". But this was a lesson to me to always call over and offer my help.
Mile 9: This was an easy mile because I was starting to feel good about this day. I was just thinking - man, you are one lucky dude man. You've got all these great people in your life and just keep on keepin' on. This is when I knew I would at least run this all the way through to 13.1.
Mile 10: I starting thinking about my running journey here. I am just thankful that I can run, and that despite a terrible mental game, I am still at this. I leaned on my experience here, and am thankful that I have those in my memory bank to help. It's amazing how much we can all take away from every run, every race, every failure, every triumph. And I'm thankful I get to experience this whenever I want to.
Mile 11: This led into thinking about those who are not as fortunate as me. I thought a lot about all the poor souls who have lost their lives this year due to Covid. Of all the families that have struggled this year due to death, and job loss, and just overall mental fatigue. We all know it's hard, and somehow I have to figure out a better way moving forward to helping some of these people. This was a sad mile, to be honest.
Mile 12: This led into thinking about all those people out there on the front lines to protect us - the doctors, nurses, police officers, military, firefighters - all of them. They have a tough duty right now in all phases, and I hope moving forward America can come together to help these people. I'm not sure people are thinking about all of this when making their personal decisions while they navigate everything that is going on in America today. But when I see my other neighbor, who is a nurse, come home....and I can just see the pain and frustration and anger in her face....it makes me sad for all the selfishness in our country right now. But
they aren't selfish, and I'm thankful for them.
Mile 13.1: I'm just thankful this is almost over.
I finish on a downhill and stop my watch at 13.2 miles. Just to make sure I wasn't short, lest one of you smartasses say I didn't complete the challenge.
Summary
I ran this run exactly as I planned - by heart rate. With a little heart ache and a lot of heart-full-ness. This is the best half marathon I have ever run.
Thank you to all who participated, and special thanks to
@gruecd for your generous offer and donation. And
@Zasada as well. If anyone else was doing this I also thank you.
After my run:
Farmer's Market
Grocery Store
Quik Trip
Liquor Store
Need to make an apple pie from scratch for my 13 year olds birthday, followed by a nice steak dinner on the grill at his request, and then some beers, college football, and a fire in the fireplace.
Have a good day gents!