Neither one of us had ever run or attempted to run any sort of race. We were horse girls. Pretty much the only time we ever ran was when we realized that the gate had been left open and the horses were loose. Lisa and I started the Couch25K program and mostly ran solo because of our crazy, personal schedules. Just before the mud run, we met a few times at the local high schools track and cheered with exhausted joy when we realized we could both actually run for twenty minutes straight, WITHOUT STOPPING!
About two years ago, I got the insanely brilliant idea to start training for my first half marathon. It just so happened that one of my very oldest friends was also thinking about training for her first half. Our goal races were a week apart from each other. We began swapped training plans and commiserating on the fact that we were eventually going to have to work up to running ten miles for one of our long runs.We had the brilliant idea to start meeting every Sunday morning so that we could run those dreaded long runs together.
Accountability. Motivation. Comradery.
We bought our very first pair of real running shoes the same week. It was the first time either one of us had ever had a stride analysis completed let alone paid more than $100 for a pair of shoes! We started meeting every Sunday as agreed and something magical happened.
Each Sunday morning we met in the same parking lot. We swapped sarcastic looks of impending dread and both admitted that it took every ounce of will power to pull ourselves out of bed. Countless times we admitted we almost baled on the other but somehow mustered up the strength to find our sports bras and running shoes in the dark, while our husbands and children snored quietly in the warmth of their beds. We'd sigh as one or the other would officially announce the weeks distance, typically one mile longer than the week before. Flip-belts, ear buds, chewing gum, running app and running shoes tied secure, we would bound down the trail and work at getting another long run over with.
Mile after mile each Sunday we tried to forget the aches and pains in our muscles and joints. We tried to ignore the internal unrest between the little voices in our minds. One voice telling us to push on and the other trying to convince our body to walk, stop or just fall down and call for an ambulance. We did this by talking about life.
We talked about our husbands, kids, family, friends and careers. Not just the casual and politically correct versions of our lives but the really private, behind closed doors and shielded hearts kind of conversations.
We found common ground not just in running but in the struggles we felt being working mothers who were time-strapped and life-balance-challenged. Desperately trying to solve the worlds problems in a 24 hour day while fighting off the urge to hop in the car and never look back in the rear view mirror. We have shared hopes and dreams, greatest fears, successes and failures.
I have watched her watch her mother die this year.
We have talked honestly about our selves. Not just the people and things in our lives, but the actual girl wearing the running shoes. Our struggles with self esteem, the flaws in our minds and in our DNA. Our purpose and our truths. We have listened to our foot-fall patterns over concrete paths and tried to accept the things we cannot change while hoping for the strength to manage the things we can.
The reality is, we have became more than just running buddies.
This weekend, my running buddy and I left the hustle and bustle of our lives in Denver and escaped into the serenity of the mountains. For two whole days we dug deeper into our soles and came out better friends, maybe better women. My thoughtful running buddy gave me this gift the night before I ran the Rocky Mountain Half Marathon.
It's the truth.
We are much more than just running buddies.
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