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Urban Running Legends

So, I left off on the question on whether I finished my long run or not. Well, yes and no.

We were supposed to complete 18 miles running along a route that included downtown Houston, Mid-Town, The Heights, and Memorial Park. It was a great urban route that made you feel apart of the heart of the city and its behind-the-scenes look.

We ran the route only to discover that our planned route had some closures, so instead of completing 18, we completed 17.2 miles, but my spirits were high.  I not only had run with my little running group inside my big running group but met new people along the way. Since all of our long runs are at conversational pace (believe it or not this does build endurance, that is for a later post), the miles carry different stories. Some are just ordinary life stories but others are a glimpse into my running peeps other lives, the non-running part. One of my Saturday running partners is a teacher from Cuba. She talks about her life in Cuba and her experiences as an American citizen. My other running partner is from Puerto Rico and served in the Army. He has great stories from his time in the military, especially his time in Germany. So during our long run, we talk about everything from running shoes and schedules, to stories from our past and present, our families, our jobs, and so much more.

During our urban run, I discovered that I felt stronger from allowing my body to recover after two weeks of rest. It is another experience I will sink into my brain when I want to be stubborn and force my body to run when it needs recovery. During this run, I felt strong enough to keep running after the 17.2 miles and my body make a quick recovery. It feels great to make progress.

We share a lot of thoughts during our long runs too. An insight that our running coach shared during the run along Memorial park was how he would like to talk to school coaches and discourage them from using running as a punishment. For example, you are 5 minutes late, then give me 5 laps- kind of thing. Pretty soon, the whole group was sharing their stories and agreement about coaches doing that and how it made running seem negative to them only to find out later in life that it was a rewarding experience.


Running and my determination to continue to do it has been one of the best things I could have brought into my life. It has made me feel strong and conditioned to take on a lot of difficult things. It has been my best therapy and friend. It has connected my mind and body to communicate and work together to help me be my best. The breathing alone cleanses me and the fatigue that sets in makes me feel rejuvenated after the recovery. It is hard to explain to most, but not to a runner. That is why I am so happy to be in a running group. They will listen and genuinely care about the new shoes I bought that didn't work out or how I PR'd on a day I felt my absolute worst or why I am sure my time was slower because I ate something out of the routine.

And the thing I love about runners is that we are not a cliquey group. We get excited to have new people join us and bring them into the fold. Because after all, it is one other person who will relate to your journey and care about the kind of socks you buy.

I am so looking forward to by 2018 running goals and an awesome 2017 made it possible for me to be so optimistic.



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