Running Journey

Yet another entry to capture the journey of me running, since walking/jogging/running (along with yoga) continues to be my consistent form of exercise to help me stay healthy and active, and is incredibly easy to accomplish and requires little extra effort or "gear" (unless the people you do it with like "extra", but more on that later). 

This latest installment is related to events starting back in 2020, when the MacBooth-athon was born, continuing in 2021 and showing up again in 2023. This particular endeavor kicked off in November last year, when someone sent the text saying we needed to do something, maybe 12 Days of 5Ks around Christmas, but then someone else sent a link to sign up for a half marathon in March...and suddenly we were all signed up.

This season of life has been extra busy, so training was not great for most of us this time around. But, we all showed up on Saturday morning, to be greeted by the most beautiful Spring day! Perfect temperature, light breeze and gorgeous sunrise at White Rock Lake.

My goal has always been to start, finish and not be last. I had an underlying feeling and expectation that I should keep improving and keep getting better, but I'm learning that sometimes it ends up looking way different than what we expect. None of us set any personal records out there this time and there was more walking than running, but we did all say yes and we all kept moving forward! Was it a great [race] time? Nope. Did it meet expectations? Not at first. Was it worth it? Heck yah! Time with friends. Enjoying nature. Staying healthy. Start, finish, not last. Togetherness. Mission accomplished.

Oh, and we looked fun doing it! You see, the only gear I really need is a decent pair of running shoes (give me whatever is the cheapest version of last year's Nikes), and I have come to love my Two Blind Brothers socks. But when I'm with Beth, Heather and Zan, there is a whole different expectation: we gotta dress for the occasion and dress alike!

(For the record: I do really like dressing alike!)