When it's a perfect beach day in late September, it's hard to get motivated to go out on a run so what's a runner to do? Plan to run along Wollaston Beach in Quincy - our old training ground when we trained for the Boston Marathon!
It was a very special run dedicated to Billy Hartford, one of our beloved members of L Street Running Club. I didn't know him personally but we had wonderful exchanges on Facebook.
We started out the day with a plank, crunches and clams with weights to engage and strengthen what we need to in order to go the distance!
As we started out with our warm up, I could feel the heat of the day. I decided that today's run was going to be a take care of myself, run from the inside out and get those miles into my legs kind of run. I had prepared for the run in my morning meditation. I focused on my music, the beautiful ocean views and visualized what it was going to feel like to run in Bermuda.
We hydrated well, paced ourselves, learned how we want to fuel during Bermuda and enjoyed the gift of a very late summer's day in New England.
I took it mile by mile and Tom was gracious enough to listen to my sing alongs with my play list which, at times, included singing all parts of a particular musical number.
The joy was definitely in the journey. As I thought about Billy and what he contributed to the running community I felt goosebumps everywhere. I sent out love and prayers to everyone who was gathered for his Memorial Service.
We had just finished our 8 miles. I was crying to realize that I ran farther than I have since 2009 and we see a woman with an L Street singlet charging toward us. "I know you bums," Caitlin Doherty, Vice President of our Running Club and a dear friend of ours called out.
Her mom was driving and she spotted our L Street singlets which we wore in honor of Billy.
We high five'd and then talked about Billy, next week's club BBQ, her long run tomorrow in preparation for the Chicago Marathon and hugged and felt the L Street Love.
We asked someone sitting along the beach to take our photo:
It was beautiful synchronicity that Caitlin was wearing her L Street singlet even though she was not running today.
We went in for our ice bath in the ocean. I had to remind myself, "Oh so this is what running 8 miles feels like." And state my affirmation of how my body recovers from every challenge with ease.
We decided to head back into the Seaport area for lunch and went to Legal Seafood Test Kitchen. We apologized for our appearance to the hostess and asked if we could sit outside. She was nonplussed and offered suggestions for what might be a great way to fuel after our run. Our waiter Mike was exuberant and provided us with outstanding service. Tom and I sat in the sun basking in the glow of my first 8 mile run since 2009 and celebrating my healing and strength.
Tom mentioned that he knows I am training well and will be ready to run Bermuda. I've let go of any time goals and want to enjoy every moment of that weekend and that day. After I finished my run, Shalene Flanagan came on Nike+ to congratulate me on my longest run. "That distance is something to be celebrated," the prerecorded message told me. "Enjoy the party!"
That's exactly what I plan to do because eight miles are great miles!
To going the distance....
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