A chance encounter

Sometimes people come into our lives at just the right moment, briefly as it may be. Allow me to explain.

Yesterday, I had the day off, thanks to Mr. Columbus and his "discovery" of the already discovered Americas. Hey, I'll take it. I slept in, way in for me - 9:30 or so. I woke up to sunny skies, 65-70 degrees, and the rustle of the wind through the colorful autumn leaves. "A perfect day for a run," I thought! I ate a small breakfast, tied on my shoes, and off I went. I was enjoying the sunshine on my face and the crunch of the leaves below my feet as I walked to warm up. I was excited to hit the trail around my favorite lake as I haven't run there in at least a few weeks and when I arrived, I immediately picked up my pace to a slow jog.


I'm working on week three of Bridge to 10k, which entails three intervals of 17/1. All went well through my first of the 17 minute running intervals, until I stopped to take a picture. I almost blacked out, and started walking again right away to keep the blood moving anywhere but my head. I walked for a minute, caught my breath, and started on my second interval. Suddenly, I started to feel really fatigued. What the heck? This is day 3 of 17 minute intervals! I should be able to do this, easy peasy, right? Not so much. After I started feeling some pain in my shin, and realized that my lungs were not going to allow me to finish, I gave in and walked the last mile or so of the loop around the lake.


I was beating myself up non-stop as soon as I slowed to a walk. I should be able to do this! I had such great momentum so far in the B210k plan - what was happening?? I told myself that I could have kept running if I had only pushed myself a little harder - if I had ignored my painful shin and tired body. What was my problem??


My path home took me by a Peace Garden. I've lived near this garden for 8 months now and never really took the time to wander it, but was suddenly compelled to do so. I wasn't ready to go home yet. I wanted to sit and soak up the beautiful fall sights and smells and try to get past my crappy run. I enjoyed ten minutes or so sitting on a rock, watching a bumble bee gather pollen, again noticing the warmth of the sun on my skin. I was calming down a bit (but still a little bothered), so made my way out of the garden and towards home. As I stepped out onto the sidewalk, an elderly gentleman hobbled my direction. He had a friendly face partially hidden by a hat and I didn't catch his eye, but as he passed me he said "Lookin' fit!"

I melted. I laughed happily and said thank you. We went our separate ways, but he had made my day. He had reminded me that no matter how bad that one run was, it's really all about the bigger picture. I've made some huge strides (pun intended) towards a healthier me, and today's bad run, or tomorrow's calorie count slip-up really mean very little in the end.

So thank you, kind sir. You reminded me of how far I've come and made the challenges ahead seem a little easier to conquer.