I have been seriously enjoying just being an active person. Running with friends when I can. Running with new friends. Running because it’s beautiful outside.
The winter is melting away sooo very slowly this year. It almost hit 50 today but I’m still not ready to shed the tights, I’m still dodging (shrinking) snowbanks.
The persistent winter has made my skiing alter-ego very happy. We spent last Sunday at Attitash in New Hampshire, and it was amazing:
I started a training plan for the Bay of Fundy marathon and it’s been satisfying to check off the training days again, but I also have a very freeing sense the 5th time around (4th training cycle, to be fair). The can I finish it fear isn’t there any more, though I still take the level of training I need to do seriously. But I’m doing it just to have fun this time, and stick to some sort of schedule, and … that’s what I love about this stage of running now. It’s less about figuring it out and more about enjoying it.
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My friend and former teacher Emilie posted a really beautiful post about Erin’s Run, coming up on April 27.
I knew Erin between creative writing class and swim team and working at the the Y. Our creative writing class in high school had a special chemistry and the stories we shared (>10 years ago!) still stick with me. Erin was a year ahead of me and I really looked up to her.
Writing memories about Erin is hard because they come across as superficial and don’t really accurately capture what a special person she was. That she taught me a lot from a distance. I still think about her at the weirdest times, like swimming butterfly or trying to defrosting my car windows or wearing my denim jacket (which I got because she got one first).
There is something that feels really good about being able to come home and run this race in Erin’s memory. That my life has brought me to good places since I first met Erin. And that Erin, in her short life, has left behind so many good works. That will continue even though she is gone.
My little sister Jean is running the race with me — and it will be her first 5K. And our first, of what I hope are many, races together. I am so proud of Jean too, because when I was in college, I never would have dreamed of running more than 100 yards, let alone a 5K. 🙂