Three Across

I'm not a huge fan of looking back for the sake of hurting.  But I seem to be excessively good at it.

A year ago today I learned that my friend's brother had gone to heaven.  We knew it was coming, I just... I guess I'll just say that no matter how prepared you are for the event, you can't ever really be prepared.  The right words wouldn't come in the days after.  Or, in the days leading up for that matter.

So I did the best I could.

I dedicated a mile of my run in San Francisco on 7/31/2011 to Mere's brother, Chris.  I didn't know what else to do, but I figured that thinking of someone for the mile it takes to cross the Golden Gate bridge makes sense to a runner.

Yesterday I ran 13.1 miles on 7/31.  I dedicated the 13.1 miles of that run to Chris.  The sad truth is, running for him doesn't bring him back to her.  Or his wife.  Or his children.

I never met him.

But I ran 13.1 miles for him anyway.  We have a connection I cannot ignore.

My first few miles were self absorbed pity-fest.  But by mile 8 he was all I was thinking about.  By mile 10 I knew Mere was by my side too.  A few tears sneaked out.  We were 3000 miles away from each other.  We were separated by time and space.

We were running together, three across, down Shady Grove Road.

It wasn't the best run ever.  It wasn't the worst.  It was humid, and hot, and sunny, and there was a moment where I really wanted to quit.  But then I thought about Chris and Mere, by my side, and knew I could run just a bit longer.

Just a bit longer.

"A few tears sneaked out"

~Savor the Run~