Rambling Runner Girl reporting live from the other side of the Mississippi.  Merry Christmas from Quincy!

Today while I was out for a run, a quote by Olympian Kara Goucher kept playing over and over in my mind.  “That’s the thing about running: your greatest runs are rarely measured by racing success.  They are moments in time when running allows you to see how wonderful your life is.”

A couple weeks ago, I led the group run at Lifetime on a Tuesday night.  It was an easy 5 mile course that I had run before, so it shouldn’t have been terribly difficult.  But after all that I have put my body through this year, I was beginning to feel broken.  I decided to allow myself a break for the last couple weeks of 2013.

I raced a lot this year.  I ran the Vancouver Marathon in May, the Chicago Marathon in October and was prepared to run the Tecumseh Trail Marathon earlier this month.  I completed several half marathons, two 200+ mile relays, the Pere Marquette endurance trail race and a few 5 and 10k’s.  I stretched myself and reached new heights by completing a half Ironman in Racine in July.

All of those are great accomplishments that I am proud of, but like Kara said, those successes don’t begin to truly capture all that my life is.  Since my decided break from running, I’ve been taking it easy.  Let’s be real, we all knew I wasn’t going to just stop running for two weeks.  So my “break” has been a break from any kind of running agenda.  No stress.  No schedule.  Just running what I feel when I feel like it.  I’ve run only when it’s convenient, no more than 6 miles, at a nice easy pace.  I’ve taken a couple days off at a time and let my body rest.  Not something that comes easy to me, but something that needed to happen.  I am using this time to fall in love with running all over again.  Today was a perfect example of that.

Yesterday after I finished work, my mom and the kids picked me up and we made the drive up 61 to Hannibal and across the river to Quincy.  The whole Jacobs clan was converging on this tiny Midwestern town for a fun old-fashioned family Christmas.  Cousins and uncles had flown in from California, Minneapolis, Boston and DC.  Other cousins had driven in from various parts of Illinois.  We pulled up to my Uncle Tim’s farm house and it wasn’t long before everyone else started to arrive.  The counter was filling with food, the house was filling with people and my heart was filled to overflowing as I looked around at so many of the people that I love.  My kids played with cousins, we drank wine and mint punch, we placed gifts under the tree.  I sat in the kitchen with my cousins’ girlfriends and my Uncle Curt’s best friend Julie who I’ve known my entire life, and it occurred to me, By Golly, we’ve got Girls in this family now!  Growing up I was constantly surrounded by boys, which would probably explain a few things about me.

By the time I joined the group working on the 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle the border was already complete.  Some would pop in and out to help with the puzzle, but for the most part the die-hards were the same as usual and they stayed to completion.  We had a white elephant gift exchange that filled the house with laughter.  We are a wacky crew, but we are always ready with open arms for anyone who dares join us.  I couldn’t have imagined being anywhere else.  And while there were several who were missing, we spoke of them fondly and wished that they were with us.

Eventually the party wound down and everyone started to return to their places of slumber.  The kids and I were staying at the farm.  While tucking Silas into one of the twin bunk beds in the “Bunk Room” where there are 10 twin beds (no joke) I said, “Ok, I will just lay down with you for a minute” and the next thing I knew he was asking where his clothes were so he could get dressed.

This morning, everyone slowly gathered in the kitchen for coffee.  A few went off to have coffee at the Park Bench, mostly the aunts and uncles.  My cousins slowly roused and we made plans for the day.  We got a text declaring “Maid-rite at 12:30, spread the word”.  It was at that point that I decided to go for a run before loading my body with the toxins of Maid-rite.  Delicious as they may be, they are still taking years off my life, I’m sure.

I did a quick change, grabbed my gear, left my 10 year old daughter in charge of a house full of my cousins (knowing that she is by far the most responsible among those that were there) and I drove over to my Grandma’s house to start my run from there.  It made more sense than running by the farm which would put me on some more dangerous roads.  I opted for safe and quaint.  I parked in the driveway and ran towards town, mostly just an out and back on 24^th Street.  It wasn’t a particularly scenic route, but one that I had run many times before.

I ran to Maine Street and then I turned around and ran back to Grandma’s.  I ran past a police officer who had set up a check point at 24^th and Harrison.  As I ran by he asked, “You got your seatbelt on?”  I smiled.

Actually, I smiled the whole time I was running.  I usually do smile when I run, unless you happen to catch me at one of those moments when I’m sporting a look of pure determination.  But seriously, I was smiling today.  My heart was overflowing.  I couldn’t have been happier.  And like Kara said, running was allowing me one of those moments that I was able to see just how wonderful my life is.

I’ll be honest, I was worried about Christmas this year.  It was my first Christmas Eve without my babies.  But I managed to not just get through it, instead I came through it soaring.  I have been blessed this holiday season with the presence of family and friends and even some unexpected surprises.  I didn’t receive many gifts that required unwrapping, but I did receive gifts in abundance; gifts that are above and beyond anything that could ever be bought. And while I ran today, I remembered that the spirit of Christmas can’t be contained to one day of the year.  I may only see my whole family a couple times a year and I may only have my kiddos 50% of the time, but they fill my heart all year long.

My races of 2013 are accomplishments that no one can take away from me, but my true success in life is knowing where my heart is.

For whatever reason, on Monday when I woke up, I had decided to take the day off.  I wasn’t going to run.  But the minute I stepped outside and saw how nice it was, that idea completely left me.  It wasn’t long before I laced up and headed to my secret spot.  I had to alter my route just slightly due to some snow on the road, but ended up with 6 miles and saw a grand total of one other person on my route.

There is something really special about a Monday run.  I typically don’t worry too much about speed or distance, I just run while I process the events of the weekend.

This was a really special weekend.  The four of us who had a cancelled marathon the previous weekend, we’re also signed up for the Pere Marquette Endurance Trail Race.  This is only a 7.8 mile race, but is dubbed the hardest race in the Midwest.  And for good reason.  The elevation on this course is intense.  But the challenge doesn’t always lie just in the course alone.

On Friday, the crew of us that had all registered together for this event began a group message to line up our car pool assignments and determine meeting spots.  It was decided that Shalini and Tony would go to Wes’s house to ride with him.  I would meet Chad and Nick at Starbucks in the valley.  And Sparky was planning to drive out on his own.  However, sometimes plans are made to be broken.  Friday night as the snow began to fall, our intentions started to get shaky.  Chad texted me to say he wasn’t sure about driving all the way over to Grafton, IL in nasty weather.  Shortly after that, Nick confessed that he was having a better time than expected at his company Christmas party and he was iffy.  I had a feeling I was about to be left on my own, so I texted Wes to create a back up plan.

Sure enough, when Saturday morning rolled around, I was fending for myself.  I left early enough to drop the kids off at their dad’s house before making my way to a spot just off 270 where Wes and co. could intercept me.  The roads weren’t great since it had been snowing all night and people in Missouri aren’t known for having “snow driving” listed as one of their strengths.  But as Wes said, part of the adventure, is getting to the race.  And considering that we’d had one race cancelled already in December, we sure weren’t going to let a little snow stand in our way of tackling that already intimidating trail.

Warning: Gross Runner Girl Alert!  I will spare you the details, but as we drove, my stomach started to get a little questionable.  When we arrived at the Pere Marquette lodge, I jumped out and high tailed it up the hill.  I was having runner issues and girl issues simultaneously and I needed a bathroom.  Quickly.

After tending to my issues and getting my bib, I gathered with my crew in the hallway of the lodge.  Shalini and Wes had both crossed paths with Shane, but we weren’t quite sure where he had made off to.  We predicted that he had decided to go ahead and start, we were correct.  We had all missed our assigned start waves, so we all started together with the “last chance” wave after Wes dropped our extra gear at the car.  With a trail race like this, it would be impossible to have 700 runners start at the same time, so they break it down into about 30 smaller groups that start every 30 seconds in an effort to spread everyone out a little better.  However, on Saturday only about 450 runners showed at the start line.  We had at least completed the part of the battle that is Showing Up.

On our way to the start, we asked a nice gentleman to take our picture.  I asked if we should smile or make a badass type face.  I was pretty sure I was scowling.  To which the nice gentleman said, “Scowl before you growl!”  That’s right, he knew what we were out there to do and we were ready to get it done.

Before long, they sent us on our way.  And we ran.  Only about a third of a mile into the race the ascent begins.  So we climbed.  Wes and I were together for the majority of the race.  He would run the down hills with reckless abandon, but I would catch him on the uphills.  And so the race went as such.

It was absolutely beautiful.  Everything was snow covered and magical.  There were downed trees blocking the course at points, so we had to climb over, under and literally through the obstacles in our path.  Near mile 4, we could look down onto a snow covered clearing.  I passed a couple girls going up the hill and they yelled some kind of encouragement.  I called over my shoulder, “Don’t forget to take it all in!”  I was staring off at the scenery and a few steps later I was running in almost knee deep snow because in not paying attention to where I was going I had gotten off the path of packed down snow.  That happened multiple times during the race.  And running downhill got a little tricky at times.  I had to avoid the slick spots by running up on the snow bank.  I managed to stay vertical the entire race, but it sure got interesting.  And I had a couple close calls.

As we headed down the last descent into the finish, I could no longer see Wes in front of me.  That guy has no fear on the downhills.  Sometimes I wish I had a little more of his reckless abandon, but we all have our own strengths.  He was waiting for me at the finish.  We went and grabbed the bags from the car and went into the lodge to change and get warm.  That was where we found Shane.  Slowly our little group began to grow.  Shalini and Tony showed up.  Then Brian and a few others.  We got our complimentary beers, checked our official results and listened to the awards ceremony.  After a while we were all starving so we decided to head over to Fast Eddies.  I grabbed my bag and rode over with Shane.  We met up with the others at the restaurant.

We ordered our burgers and fries and beers.  Fast Eddie’s was crawling with other Pere Marquette runners.  We had received a jacket with our registration and as I looked across the enclosed patio area, I tried to figure out the design on the back.  It looked like 4 Christmas trees side by side.  Then it occurred to me.  That was the elevation map of the race we had just completed.  Outstanding.

We recapped the race, mingled with other runners, commenced in downing our food.  We reminisced about the obstacles and scenic views on the course.  We also discussed where the slick spots were and whether we had all managed to stay upright.  We all had a few near misses, but as it turned out Tony was the only one who really bit it on Saturday.  He managed a somewhat glorious face plant in the snow.   To sum up our experience, Wes said, “It’s a balance of taking it all in, and trying not to fall on your ass.”  Right on, Vega.  Right on…

Eventually, we all had to go on our merry way.  Shane drove me back to my car.  From there, I picked up my kids and we went to 4:30 church, then Target, then home to have Hot Chocolate and watch Elf.  Sunday started with the custody swap.  Then I headed off to work for a few hours.  After work I went off to my kiddos’ Christmas program at school.  It’s still tough to go to those events alone, but as a mom sometimes you just have to suck it up and do what you have to do for your kids.  Especially when you have to face a whole table of people who you used to spend holidays with, but no longer do.  But totally worth it to have my baby present the gift to his teacher that he picked out just for her.  A sock monkey, named Sock, because she loves sock monkeys.  After the program, I went to Katrina’s for a girls night full of Christmas Vacation, loaded hot chocolate and other treats.

As I ran on Monday, I tried to avoid slipping on some icy spots while I took in the snow covered trees.  Vega’s words rang in my head, “It’s a balance of taking it all in, and trying not to fall on your ass.”

I was taking it all in.  The good, the bad and the ugly.  I took in the excitement and anticipation of lining up for a race with my friends.  I took in the adventure of a snow covered trail.  I took in the thrill of going from 9^th in my age group last year, to 7^th this year.  I took in the joy of laughing with my friends at Fast Eddies.  The disappointment of realizing I had left my favorite gloves at the lodge. I took in the beauty of listening to my kids sing about the birth of Jesus.  The pain of knowing I won’t spend Christmas Even with my babies this year.  I felt my heart warm at my baby presenting “Sock” to his teacher.  I took in the comfort of spending a cold night having fun with my girlfriends.  And through it all, I was still trying really hard not to fall on my ass.

I know I’m not guaranteed not to fall down once in a while.  But I’m willing to risk the occasional wipe out to ensure that I never miss a thing.  If taking it all in means I end up doing a face plant once in a while, it’s still totally worth it.

Running legend, Steve Prefontaine, once said, “A lot of people run to see who is fastest.  I run to see who has the most guts.”

Today I ran a marathon.  All by myself.  On a Monday.  With a high temp of 25 degrees.  Which means that it actually felt like it was in the teens.

This was my 10th marathon, but what made it different than my first 9 was that there was no fanfare.  There was no Expo. No packet pick up.  No Race t-shirt.  No chip time.  No start corrals.  No official course map.  No one standing along the course cheering and clapping.  No funny signs of encouragement to read along the way.  No aid stations.  There were no other runners running the course with me.  It was just me, making up the route as I went along.

If you read my last post, you know that I was supposed to run a trail marathon on Saturday.  But the Tecumseh trail marathon, along with several other larger, better known races around the country, was cancelled due to inclement weather.  If you read that post, you would also know that my friend Derrick told me to go run it on my own.  So that’s exactly what I did.

I told almost no one that I was going to do this because I wasn’t entirely sure what would happen.

Last night I carb loaded with Katrina.  We ate pizza and left over chocolate ice cream cake from Lindsey Farrell’s birthday dinner, while we watched the movie The Holiday.  Then I drove home, climbed into my bed and didn’t move until about 7:30 this morning.

When I got up, the plan was already formed in my head.  Since there was no official start time, I slowly got dressed in my warmest winter running gear while I brushed my teeth.  I made my way to the kitchen for a bagel and peanut butter with my coffee.  I took my time eating breakfast as I contemplated what I was about to do.  Eventually, I hopped in the car and drove over to Castlewood.  There was only one other car in the third parking lot on the right when I pulled in to our crew’s usual meeting spot.  But I knew everyone else was either working or tending to kids or doing their typical Monday morning routine that didn’t involve a Castlewood run since they had all been there the day before.  I stayed in the heat as long as possible while I gathered my necessary items.  Gu, ipod, Garmin. I filled my water bottle.  I was beginning to really question my sanity since what I was about to do seemed somewhat crazy.  Run 26 miles by myself in the freezing cold?  I don’t actually have to do this.  I grabbed my trail shoes from the back seat and began to lace up when another car pulled into the lot.  I recognized Rosie’s car immediately and we both waved.  I couldn’t have been happier to see anyone else!  Rosie’s arrival was perfect because, you see, this is a girl who would run Castlewood marathons as training runs for the Mark Twain 100.  That’s right, she ran 100 miles at one time.  That is fantastically, awesomely insane!  And I love it.  Even better than Rosie’s encouragement that I could accomplish what I was about to set out for, was the fact that we were both in our matching purple and neon Fleet Feet wind blockers that we got at the staff Christmas party last year.  Rosie set off up Lone Wolf hill and I continued my preparations.

Finally, I was ready to go.  I turned on my ipod, locked the car and hit start on the Garmin.  Well, here goes nothin…

I started out by running along the road in the snow toward the River Scene trail, under the train tracks and made a left to the start of the trail.  I followed River Scene over to Cedar Bluff, went through the tunnel and did the 2ish mile loop through the woods.  Once I came back through the tunnel, I jumped on the Al Foster trail and followed it all the way past the mini train depot to the turn around point.  That was somewhere around Mile 10 and I must have been slightly delirious from the cold, or I was trying to keep my face from freezing, since I was singing Rihanna’s Rude Boy as I passed a sweet old couple.  They said Good Morning, hopefully they weren’t offended by the lyrics.  I started back down Al Foster, but when I got to the parking lot where I would usually turn left, I stayed right to continue along next to the river.  That eventually hooked me into familiar territory which I stuck with all the way back along the river and to the car for a refueling session.  Rosie’s car was no longer in the parking lot.  18 miles down, 8 more to go…

It was a welcome 5 minute break.  Despite the couple of salted caramel Gu’s I had taken at various points on the course, my stomach had started growling a few miles back.  I jumped in the car, checked my phone, ate a Peanut Butter and Jelly flavored Bonk Breaker, refilled my water bottle, restocked my Gu and already my body temperature was starting to plummet.  I knew I had to get back out there and stay warm or I was a goner.  I made sure I had everything I needed, locked the car up again and restarted the Garmin.

This time I went up Lone Wolf hill, which was a tough climb on tired legs, but it got me warmed back up quickly which I needed.  Once I was at the top, I ran along the bluff overlooking the River, then came down the switchbacks that brought me to the creek.  With 6 miles still to go, I didn’t really feel like dealing with wet shoes in 20 degrees, so I avoided the creek crossing and went back to Grotpeter so I could get to the other side.  I ran over to Cardiac Hill wondering how I was really going to make that climb.  But I crossed the road and started up the aptly named hill. I slowed to a walk about a third of the way up to conserve energy.  At some point it makes just as much sense to slow down and walk the tough hills in order to have enough left to carry on when you get to the summit.  Kind of profound, huh?

The last few miles are kind of a blur.  At mile 21, I ate my last Gu, mostly just to give myself something else to think about for a minute.  At mile 22, I was more than ready for it to be over.  I knew I couldn’t just walk the rest though because I’d freeze out there.  So I kept putting one foot in front of the other, like every other marathon I have ever done.

Once I came out of the woods, I was near the parking lot.  I had to sort of make up where I was going for a stretch, back and forth through the snow to get the last bit in.  I finally made one last trip under the train tracks out to the river.  With only a mile left I had to slow to a walk as a family of deer was blocking the trail. I counted 9 of them.  10 feet in front of me.  Several of them ran off, but two of them stood where they were and watched me pass.  I smiled at my cheering section.

I picked up the pace again.  And finally started back to the car.  I was exuberant at the thought of being done.  Even though it was weird that I was about to finish a marathon with no official time.  No photographers.  No real finish line to cross.  No crowd of people lining the shoot with shouts of excitement.   No medals. No fanfare.  No glory.

I had less than half a mile when I noticed a car.  Mark, one of only 3 people who knew I was out there, had come to cheer me into the finish.  I ran past him to go the last .3 miles.  And I finally looped back around.  I had gone a little farther than I needed but that usually happens in races of considerable distance because unless you cut the tangents perfectly you end up going slightly out of your way.

I stopped running when I hit the pavement of the parking lot.  Mark jumped out of his car to greet me.  It was surreal.  I was tired.

26.33 miles of trails in 4 hours and 41 minutes.  My run took me through familiar parts of the park and new areas to explore.  I was the fastest one on the course today.  I won the race. But I wasn’t setting any land speed records, that’s for sure.  This run wasn’t really about that though.  Like “Pre” said, I wasn’t running to see who was fastest; I was running to see who had the most guts.

I have absolutely no proof that I ran all 26.33 of those miles today.  Who isn’t to think I may have driven around in my car for part of that time to make my Garmin read those numbers?  I saw no more than 10 people while I was running and I don’t know a single one of them. I am the only person who truly knows without a doubt that I did it.  I proved to myself today that I’ve got guts.  And that’s really all the glory I will ever need.

This blog was supposed to be about my very first trail marathon.  I was supposed to be writing it this morning in the back of Dan’s jeep on our way home from Indiana.  But sometimes, what is “supposed” to happen, doesn’t.

On Friday morning, I was all packed up when I left home to head to work.  I was working a short shift then I was going to meet Shane and Dan so we could drive over to Bloomington, IN where Wes, Shalini and her husband Brad would be waiting for us.  We had been looking forward to this for weeks. Shane and I had signed waivers for Shalini and Wes to get out packets since we would get in later. Friday morning we had a group text going about foam rollers and Garmins and mostly how excited we were.  The last two texts on that thread were:

RRG:  I’m so excited to spend the weekend with you geeks!  🙂

Vega: What she said!  This is going to be EPIC!!!

It was supposed to be epic.  And the weekend was still epic.  Just not the way it was supposed to be.

Shortly before I left work, I noticed that I had missed calls from both Shane and Wes.  I thought, “Hmm, That’s weird”.  I also had texts from both of them.  Shane’s simply said “Call me”.  Wes’s was more explanatory.  It said, “Trail Marathon was cancelled cause of inclement weather! 🙁 ”

No, no, no, no, no…they’re kidding.  They’re just messing with me.  Shane pulls this kind of stuff on me all the time and I always fall for it.  Not this time.  So, I checked my email and sure enough, there was a message from the director of the Tecumseh marathon declaring that the race was, in fact, cancelled.  My heart dropped.  I felt like I had been punched in the stomach.

As soon as I left work, I called Vega.  He answered the phone and I said, “That is the most subdued I have ever heard you answer the phone.”  We talked about what we were going to do now that we were all packed and had cleared our schedules for the weekend.  Wes was actually on his way to Shalini’s house to carpool when he got the call from her to say the race was off.  All 4 of us, plus Dan who was going along as our chauffeur/videographer/Sherpa, reacted somewhat differently.  Shalini was pissed and verbalized it!  Shane was pissed too, but needed to not talk about it for a while, resorting to humor.  Vega said he was sad, but in true Vega style he managed to stay pretty even keel.  It will not surprise anyone to know that after my initial denial, I cried.  As I announced to Will and Rosie that my race was not going to happen, I’m sure they could see the tears filling my eyes.  The tears stayed put until later when I was alone in my car, but they came.  With a vengeance.

We briefly considered jumping in cars and doing a road trip somewhere and finding our own trail to run.  I proposed the idea and Vega was the first to respond “IN”.  However, that plan quickly unraveled.  Shane decided to stay and work on Saturday so as not to use up his last vacation day for the year.  The rest of us decided to have a pity party.

Shalini, Wes and I met at Castlewood for a consolation run.  We met in the usual spot and did a similar route to our run last weekend.  I didn’t wear a Garmin so I don’t even know exactly how far we went, somewhere in the 7-8 range.  It was beautiful and snowy and the company was top notch.  However, we all commented that it wasn’t the same without Shane there.  After our run, we split to go clean up, with a plan to reconvene at Brick House for drinks and dinner.  Once we gathered we changed our mind on dinner and headed to Fin for sushi.  The group grew when Nick, Kristen, Katrina and Kayla joined us.  From there we headed to Circle 7 Ranch and the group grew again.  Our “Pity Party” turned out to be a pretty good time.  And that’s really all I can say about that.  What happens at the pity party, stays at the pity party.  Although, I will say there are lots of pouting pictures of us with the race elevation map.

Saturday I was somewhat useless. I stayed in my pj’s all day and I didn’t get much accomplished.  This morning, Shalini arranged a group run at Castlewood to get in the miles she needs to prepare for her first Ultra in January.  (For the non-runners, Ultra = anything greater than a marathon, usually 50k, 50 miles or 100 mile) She and Shane are running the Frozen Gnome in Wisconsin.  I wish I could join them, but it’s just not in the cards.

While my friends are off running through the frozen woods, I am sitting in the warmth of my kitchen with my coffee watching the snow softly fall on my back deck.  I had planned to run with them this morning, I even put on my running clothes, ate breakfast and drove to meet Shane at the location where we were leaving his car at the end of the trail with refueling supplies.  He hopped in the car with me and I said, “I’m not feeling it today.  I’m not staying to run”.  He gave me a little grief at first, but in the end everyone let me do what I needed to.

I have to be at work shortly and I wasn’t up to feeling rushed.  I want a good long run when I’m feeling up to it.  Today was not the day.  I’m hoping tomorrow will bring some good miles.  But today, I’m still processing the events of the weekend.

Life is going to hand us disappointments.  Some big, some small, some that initially seem bigger than they really are.  In the grand scheme of life a cancelled race weekend with my friends isn’t as catastrophic as a variety of other things that could happen.

There will be other races and other road trips.  But it feels good to know that my friends will be there when I need them.  And they’ll let me do my thing when it’s what is best for me.

Old Lindsey would have gone out running today even if she wasn’t feeling it.  I used to do what I thought everyone else needed me to do.  I used to kill myself to make everyone happy.  But I finally realized that was literally killing me.  Parts of me were no longer functioning because I was so worried about everyone else.  But this morning, I knew what I needed.  And this is what it looks like when I take care of Rambling Runner Girl.

Next weekend, the 4 of us who were supposed to run a marathon on Saturday, are all registered for the Pere Marquette Endurance Trail Race.  It’s only 7.5 miles, but it’s an intense course.  I ran it last year and I’m hoping for improvement this year.  Although, it’s tough to compare from year to year because the weather can be so different.  Which just reminds me that it’s not really about beating anyone, including myself.  I’m going to take my next race and do the best I can with it.  And I hope that I can approach every day of life the exact same way.  That’s going to look a little different each day.  Today it’s about finding my peace.  Usually running helps me do that, and tomorrow I will run.  But today finding my peace is about processing the grief that comes with having something taken away.  It’s not as devastating as what it could be.  But the fact is my expectations were smashed.  I’m going to get through it and I’ll be fine.  Mostly because I know that tomorrow is another day, next week is another race, and my friends will be there when I call.

I don’t think I can say it any better than my friend Derrick did on Friday.  I posted a status on Facebook that simply said, “Sulking…” with Wes, Shalini, Shane, Dan and Brad.  Derrick commented, “You don’t need a medal to say you ran 26.2 miles on a trail, go do it anyway…and if you do need that medal-make your own metal up. Find a rock, put a ribbon around it and say this is my marathon rock- NOW GO DO IT!”

Words to live by.  I’m done sulking.  Pity party over.  Now it’s time to get on with it.