Thankfulness & Appreciation

Today Sonya and I went running.  It was the first time we went back running since I came back from Florida a week ago.

While I was in Florida, I decided I would keep running.  I will admit that on a period of 2 weeks, I ran, I think, a total of 3 times.  Kev, my very patient boyfriend, helped me measure the private plane runway in his neighbourhood and it was exactly 1 km long.  I thought I would run it back and forth 5 times. Easy enough.

Welcome, Me, to Florida weather.

The ambient humidity is probably 99.9%.  Your sweat does not evaporate.  In fact, as soon as you step outside, you have a nice and oh so sexy fall of sweat running down your back. And that's when you just stand there breathing.

So I thought "No big deal, right. I'll run when the sun sets.".  Ha. Hahahahah. After sunset, aka the hour when the sun has shone 14 hours straight on the pavement with enough intensity to make you feel you are walking on the surface of the sun, is not (much) better. And you're really gasping for that 0,01% left in the air that is oxygen.  Not a pretty sight (a Canadian running in Florida, I mean).

In any case, first night was a disaster with me stopping every length to catch my breath (that's a really nice way to put it).

The second time I went, it was better, I felt. I thought if I can run here I can run anywhere (I confess I had this really cool mental image of me running in the savannah, then).

The third time... Now the third time was one of the best runs of my life.  Let me put you in the context though: Kev, who's an AMAZING cook (don't even get me started, I swear!) was lovingly cooking my favourite meal in the universe, giving me all the time I needed to run, and it was completely dark outside.  After a hot day, heat lightnings were lighting the sky, far from the runway but close enough to look beautiful, turning the dark skies into a shade of soft orange.

I started to run, my Parlotones songs in my ears, slowly breathing the air that had time to cool a little.  I barely saw ahead of me except for the houses along the runway that were lit up.  I ran my 5 km, admiring the sky above, feeling lucky to be where I was...  In fact, I had this acute sense of being exactly where I wanted to be.  The love of my life was a few steps away from me, I had the best spot in town where to run all to myself, I was in one of my favourite places in the world, my heart was pumping, sweat was rolling, legs and lungs were cooperating...

When I was done, I downed my (now warm) water and allowed myself to lay flat on my back on the pavement.  In front of me, the sky looked like a black velvet coat with golden stars lovingly embroided by the hand of God.  Yes, I was exactly where I wanted to be and where I was supposed to be.  Here and now.  I gave thanks to the Universe and listened to my own heartbeat slowing down.

It was one of the best moments of my life.

Now back to today, Sonya and I had a perk:  our friend M was supposed to meet us "somewhere, sometime" on the mountain.  The run went well, although I had to take several small breaks, but we both made it to the top and all the way back.  When I arrived at the end, Sonya and M were waiting for me, M taking pictures of my triumphal (at least in my head) arrival.  Sonya had beat her time of 45 minutes (amazing!!!!!).  By the way, I want to give kudos to M who managed, lately, to reach the top even if he's not a runner at heart!!!!  I'm amazed, M, and I bow to you!

We were discussing what keeps us going when it gets too hard (Sonya and I both have the hardest time running between the stairs and the Beavers Lake) and usually, it's a perfect stranger: someone who's old  and/or handicapped and is still insisting to be there on the mountain to walk.  You see them struggling at every step and you can only think that if they can do this, you can definitely put one foot in front of the other.

So thankfulness, I guess, is the theme of this post. Thankfulness for love, for friends, for doing what I love to do, for being healthy enough to run,  for goals achieved and new goals created, for life, because it is such a good one, for inspiration under all of its shapes...

Always (try to) remember to take a moment and say thank you.  For no matter what's going on in your life, there are always blessings to be counted.