Running through the years

I have been running on and off for the past few years. Running has definitely been less the past two years. Lately, it’s been a HIIT, hill repeats and maybe a steady 25 minutes or less a few days a week.

I can’t get running out of my system completely. It provides me the opportunity to be with myself, work through some things or even push the world out of my head for a while.

Dress me up in a sports bra, cute running outfit, lace up my shoes and I’m good to go. It doesn’t require a lot of gear. However, your heart and mind are needed regardless of the distance.

With that said, the days of training for a half marathon are long gone. Those were good times because it gave me the opportunity to lead a great group of women. Many of us would have never met if it were not for the group.

Running wherever we went

As a leader and ambassador for nearly three years gave me such joy. Many of the women had never run as adults or imagined that they could do more than walk.

The runners ran. The walkers walked. It didn’t matter what you did as long as you came out and got your body moving. Those were the days back when all it seemed like we did was hit the pavement and laugh.

We came together to run the streets in our local community. The group ran together throughout the week and on any given Saturday, we would pick a side of town to meet up on. Sometimes I would have to tag a group of folks, call them out if you will, to ensure that I would see them. I didn’t mind and they didn’t either. It’s how we did it.

We traveled together – Miami, Atlanta, Charlotte, Puerto Rico and Little Rock are a few places we have hit the pavement together. It was all done in the name of fun and of course donning a new race medal. Sometimes for a bigger medal as in Little Rock and sometimes for the location as in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

And one of the best things was making and building relationships that will last a lifetime.I look at this picture and it takes me back. We were all really getting to know one another. For me and my running and fitness partner in crime, this was just the beginning. And then there is my girl, Nat, who is always serving up laughter.

There really is something to be said about lasting friendships made through some sweat and tears. I’d say that there were more sweat than tears through the years. Oh wait, did I forget the curse words. Yes, they were there too. How couldn’t there be when you push your body beyond what it naturally knows for something more? On any given run we would have a curse word or two trying to figure out who came up with the run route, added the extra hill or who thought it was a good idea to sign up for another 13.1 miles to be run on any given weekend.

Looking back at it I couldn’t be more proud of running with everyone through the years.

What is something that you have continuously done over the past few years?