We RUN.

I have not run every day this week.  Not even close.

Okay, now that’s out of the way.

It’s been a heck of a week here in the world.  Here in my neck of the woods we’ve had torrential rains, record flooding, and snow.  Beyond this area we had the fertilizer plant explosion in Texas.  Ricin sent to the president.  And Boston.  I’m not going to get into what happened in Boston, or how I feel about it, because it’s all been said so eloquently by others already, and I don’t feel I can add much to the discussion.  I can say that I am beyond glad that law enforcement identified and captured the suspects within a week.  It just goes to show how much we can accomplish when we put our collective effort towards a common goal and purpose.

This weekend I had 11 miles scheduled.  Originally my two older boys were supposed to have soccer games this morning, so I planned on getting up early and running alone.   Then, when the soccer games were cancelled, I took the opportunity to sign up for a race, the Project Renewal Run for Renewal 5k.  This was one of my favorite races last year, and I had really wanted to run it.  But due to soccer (because, well, my kids have to come first…), I had thought I wouldn’t be able to run it.

I also needed to get in those 11 miles.  So I kept the original plan to wake up early, head out and run alone.  I got up at 5:40, got dressed, and headed out to run 8 miles in the early morning sun.  It was beautiful, but cold.  My legs felt like lead, and I didn’t have a lot of energy.  I didn’t eat anything before heading out, and that was probably part of the problem.  But I got through it, and stopped home around 7:30.

Waiting for me was a chocolate chip pancake.  yum.

As I was eating it, I realized that the Project Renewal race was about a 40 minute drive away, and packet pickup ended at 8:30.  It was 7:45.  I rushed out the door with a cup of coffee, and headed out to the race.  I arrived at packet pickup to find a long line of people waiting to pick up their race numbers.

LiveUncommon did a great thing this week.  They decided that to honor the runners in Boston, and to show solidarity, that they would cover the cost for anyone to run the Project Renewal race (and a later 5k race that I wasn’t able to attend due to a family event).  So, rather than the almost-200 runners from last year, this year’s race drew over 500 runners.  It was amazing to see all these runners out this morning, all out to rUN UNdaunted.  It was a great morning for a race.   I ended up running with Josiah, and enjoyed the entire run, even the massive hills.  It was such a blast.  I’m so excited that I was able to do it, and I am feeling refreshed and energized.

It was a great way to honor Boston, by getting together and doing what we do.  And what is that?

We RUN.