Day 9 - Almosters

I never consider myself a runner.  I have cool running pants in a variety of lengths, I have a belt to hold my iphone that wraps around my waist, I have shirts I wear just to run in, I have a routine depending on how far I am running but, I AM NOT A RUNNER. Until I run with the Almosters.  My crazy group of friends that get together at the Cochran's house to do just that....run and then drink!

Today though, I ran for a specific reason.  I ran to forget and to release the drama of yesterday.  I ran to find forgiveness for he who is incompetent and I ran to find peace with a hard choice I had to make.  As I was running, I was thinking of Oprah Winfrey's speech she gave on her Live your Best Life tour.  She talked about being at a fat farm and releasing "it" (it being a specific struggle she was facing at the time) and that as she ran, each lap she gave a little more up to God and asked for a sign.  It came to her, that day on that track at the fat farm.  In the form of a sweet lady wearing a purple jacket telling her that Steven Speilberg was on the phone and wanted to speak with her.

Nothing THAT profound happened for me today but a few things did happen.
#1 - I ran a hill that I hate and I told myself that if I could run that hill, I could forgive he who is incompetent.
#2 - I turned right to take the long road back to the Cochrans because I knew that once I made that turn, I couldn't go back and take the short cut.  Once I put my foot on the path to the right - it would lead me the long way and ultimately I needed the miles.
#3 - A man came running out from behind a tree as I was walking (occasionally, that happens to me, I forget I am running and I start to walk until I remember I should be running), and he yelled "Come On!!" and looked right at me (shocker)!  Then he said the rest of his sentence "get rid of this fat belly".  He made me laugh and I started to run.
#4 - Life is like a run, sometimes there are hard hills and sometimes you make the turns you don't want to but you know that you need to, there will always be cheerleaders to encourage you and that you can do it.
#5 - Mike will always be there.  As I was running, I saw him ahead of me a few times but, as I came up to the driveway, there he was just waiting for me.

And I will always have friends to listen, to know who I am and what I stand for and to hand me a glass of Proseco.