It’s been a month since I have gone out for a run, thanks to the acute asthma I developed during my bout with the plague. Over the past few days, I haven’t been relying on my inhalers as much so I decided it was time to try. I laced up my running shoes, put on an old race shirt to show support for Boston and hit the pavement again.
My plan was to drive up to the recreation center and just do a few laps around the parking lot and soccer field to see how I felt. Surprisingly I felt really good and my goal of 3 miles turned into 6.5 miles!
It wasn’t a pretty run and I didn’t expect it to be. I had to slow down every 1/4 mile to give my lungs a break, but I kept going and it felt great.
One of the things that kept me going, besides the gorgeous weather and my stubbornness, was the amount of people on the trail. Normally I see a few walkers and one or two other runners, but today there were a lot more people out and they all had on blue & yellow or a race shirt. It was heart warming to see people doing a small gesture and showing that they cared.
Today I wore an old race t-shirt and did a #RunForBoston
After the events at the Boston Marathon yesterday afternoon, I was left stunned and appalled. What should have been a happy achievement for so many athletes, turned into a scary and senseless part of history that had life altering impacts on many.
Over the past few months, I have been privileged to become friends with many runners. I have seen the love they have for running, and have even experienced it for myself. I have seen how hard they train, how willing they are to help new runners and what a wonderful community of supporting people they are.
My heart goes out to the city of Boston, the runners, the spectators who were excited to see their friends and loved ones cross the finish line and the volunteers who were forced to face circumstances that undoubtedly never entered anyone’s mind that day. My thoughts go out to the victims and their families, as well as all of the runners who never got to cross the finish line and finish the race they trained so hard for.
Today, I ran to show my support for a wonderful community.
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