Running and Furniture

What a difference a year makes…

Today was 5 miles of running with my Sole Sisters. What a great morning. After the 5 miles we met up for coffee and conversation. This morning was great talking with the Sole Sisters afterwards and it just made me think about how far I have come over the last year. I was able hear the stories of where some of our new sisters are starting from and imagining where they will be after our April 23 event and beyond. What will they be thinking in a year about how far they have come? I am excited to watch them grow and change this spring as we train and then beyond. I was able to reflect on how I have grown over the past year.

So, how far have I come? A year ago I was completing the runs with my Sole Sisters. I was nervous before them and doubted I could do the miles, but this year I am excited and I am able to encourage those that are doing their 5 miles for the first time. I didn’t think I could do it.

A year ago I was renting a house. Today, I own my own home. I OWN MY OWN HOME!!! This week my new furniture arrived, that I picked out. I picked it out on my own. I had never done anything quite like that on my own. In the past, others had picked it out for me and I just agreed. This may not seem like a big deal to some people but for some reason this was a big thing for me. Having this furniture in my own home has just made it feel like this house, my house, is really mine. This is my home. I did this.

Yes, I did this, but I would not have done this without my family and my Sole Sisters. Thank you to everyone who has helped me get to this place.

What does running have to do with buying furniture? For me, everything. If I did not have the confidence that I now have in myself, I would not have purchased my own home and gone to the furniture store on my own to pick out my own furniture. Running has given me confidence and has changed my life and it continues to do so in ways I don’t even know yet.

One step at a time, you just never know where that will take you!

Back to the stree

It has been a little while since I have written more here. Thankfully it hasn’t been as long since I have been running.

It is training time again. I am preparing for the Gazelle Girl half marathon April 23 and the Fifth Third Riverbank 25k Run on May 13.

The best part is that I am not training alone. I am once again joined by my Sole Sisters. We had our first group run on January 7 inside the YMCA as the weather was quite cold that day. I missed the next Saturday because of having to work and I really missed the group run. I was able to get my miles in but I really missed the community run.

On Saturday, January 21, I was able to join the group. As I waited inside our meeting place, the feelings from a year ago came back. I was there a little early and there weren’t any familiar faces yet. I was feeling nervous and excited, but as the Sole Sisters started to arrive my nerves calmed and my excitement was building. I grew really excited about watching some of the new participants this year join us.  There are new scholarship recipients and other women from the area that are joining us on this journey. Each individual with different goals and different backgrounds and battles they are facing or have faced.

I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of one of the new scholarship recipients, who is someone that I knew a little a few years ago and followed my story last year. The group who gathered posed for a picture before our run and my friend was not there. But as we started down the road she appeared and jumped right in with us to run. We had some great conversation and caught up on a lot as we ran. The time seemed to fly by with the 4 miles we covered that morning. Both of us have been through a lot since the last time we had coffee together years ago but being in this journey together towards the half marathon in a few short months is going to be a beautiful growing experience for us both.

I am excited to join her on this journey this spring. I have a feeling that after race day our friendship will continue to be a bit more constant than it has over the past few years.

Thank you Sole Sisters for reconnecting us and also joining us on this journey.