Today's happy occurrence:Traffic was light on the way home, it wasn't raining and I had a strong 3 mile run that was only 6 seconds per mile off of race pace. I have a job, the weather is good, I am strong and healthy enough to run 7.46 minute miles, and my life is such that I can run half marathons for fun.
Today's memory:
I miss the downtown Vancouver lifestyle. I miss the guys I used to work with and their youth and their variably independent lifestyles and the political debates, and coffees, lunches, (window) shopping on my lunch hour and the practical jokes at work. And not having to nix ten minutes from my allotted coffee break because traffic sucked and I was ten minutes late to work.
There is a girl that I currently work with that is a few years older than me. She recently got engaged and her ring blinds me every time it hits the light. She is the one that I ran the Sun Run with in May. Her mother died while they were together on vacation in Australia and she had to arrange to get the body back to home. Her father can no longer take care of himself and is in a home. He moved into a retirement home from the house that she grew up in. The house that she recently went to check in on only to find that it had been broken into and ransacked. Her fiance lives in Seattle.
After running the Sun Run (which she completed in under the time she had allowed for herself and, and which she ran for the entire duration without stopping) she decided that she would like to continue on and run a half marathon (the Sun Run was the first 10k she had ever run). She will be running the same race as me this upcoming Sunday.
When I came in the Tuesday after the 10k there was an envelope on my desk from her with a gift card to Starbucks (she knows I go there with my clinic after our runs) and another card from Tim Hortons - but for $5 only because she knows how diligent I am about my diet, but that I love donuts.
I wanted to give them all back to her because I was happy to simply be there with her for her run. In fact, selfishly, it was the first 10k I had ever run where I was happy to simply be there, to enjoy the company, to enjoy the 50,000 other runners, to appreciate our stunning city, and to see someone accomplish their goals.
She keeps chocolates in one of the drawers of her desk, of which I avail myself frequently. It amazes and humbles me that someone that has gone through so much, is going through so much, is still so upbeat and generous and she inspires me more than I have been able to tell her.
The good news:
Sarah Harmer released her new album yesterday! One of my favourite musicians ever.
3 comments:
I love love love Sarah Harmer! And I love good runner ju-ju. Nothing like watching somebody at the beginning of a new passion!
She's nuts, this girl. I love her. She's like 5 foot 1 or something and she just goes.
I hope, on Sunday, that I can go back on the course and find her and encourage her for those final kilometres and be there, screaming for her, at the end. It's still up in the air as to whether her fiance will make the trek up from Seattle and she hasn't told anyone at work that she is doing this. :(
That's so sweet what you wrote about her. Instead of giving the gift cards back to her, buy her coffee and donuts when you get yours.
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