Wow….I haven’t blogged in a long time! I hope this entry finds you all well and enjoying what’s left of summer!
My summer has been flying by. We, my hubby, son, and myself, have hardly been home. My son has had a lot of basketball camps including an incredible camp at the University of Virginia in which he and I took off with my parents….just the four of us! What a blast!
We traveled to Breckenridge, Colorado a couple of weeks ago to spend 8 wonderful days in a condo at the bottom of Peak 8. Peak 8 is the most beautiful place. Our agenda was NOTHING. Not to have any plans and just relax and do what we wanted, when we wanted. Save one thing. Travel to Aspen so I could run a half marathon.
I didn’t tell many people because I knew it was pretty risky to register because I live in an elevation of about 1,100. Aspen is 8,500. I understand all the risks of even visiting a destination of higher elevation, let alone RUN 13.1 MILES IN HIGHER ELEVATION. But, I had already registered and there was no turning back.
Our plan was to spend the day in Aspen after the half, and then on the way back to Breckenridge, stop and spend some time in Vail. At the beginning of race week, I received the usual email that includes the normal last minute details stuff. At the end of the email, it stated IN ALL RED LETTERS that bears and mountain lions frequent the trail we would be running on. WHAT?!?!?!?!?! This seriously scared me, but we were reassured that sightings are rare and they are more scared of us. As it turned out, the only animal I saw was a bunny!
I was very worried about this race and running in the elevation for 13.1 miles. I had a plan though. What I was nervous about was dizziness, nausea, fainting etc and if I felt like that at all, I was going to stop. If I couldn’t get over any of those, I was going to call my husband and pull out of the race. When making my decision on whether or not to register, I knew that if I tried and couldn’t finish, I would be okay with that. It would be worse for me to not even try. I didn’t experience any of what I was expecting! The only thing was that I got tired sooner than I would normally, which made it tougher. The scenery was absolutely BEAUTIFUL and BREATHTAKING and I loved every minute of this race. I am so glad that I didn’t give in to the fear and just went for it. I took this picture of myself at mile 12…I was SO HAPPY!
**For more Aspen Valley Half Marathon picture, visit my Runnergal22 Facebook page!**
New goals for me….yes I have some. Not any distance goals. I have no interest in running an ultra, so I have run every other distance. I have nothing to prove to myself in that way. I am going to work on some things about my running, exercise, eating that I need to improve. Nothing major at all in terms of major life changes or experiences, but things that I have maybe neglected because I had been more focused on distances or particular races. Eating is a big thing for me. My portions are so out of whack! And I can always be tempted with some form of chocolate and especially malts, so it’s time to get that in check and work on my nutrition!
Finally, the regret. We all have regrets in life and we hear those old adages about not living with regrets but they are inevitable. What seems like so long ago, I had this friend. She and I were very close. I’m not going into detail, but five years ago we had a major falling out and we have seen or spoken to each other since. I found out today that she has cancer and is starting chemo. She has a long road ahead of her. I feel so badly for her and for her family. I pray that she has strength and that she is healed. I pray for her family to be strong. I guess I’m not only feeling regret about our relationship, but sorrow. Sorrow for what could have been, for what did happen, for her future struggles with cancer….all of the above. I am certainly not an expert, I am no psychologist or counselor….but I do know this. Life is too short to hold grudges. As a friend of mine said to me today, “We don’t know what lies ahead of us” and that is so true.
I wish you all peace in your hearts and relationships, and if you know you have a relationship that needs fixing, then maybe it’s time to make the first step even thought it might be a tough step to take.
And until next time, I am going to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
runnergal22 
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