Fueled By Gratitude
Any distance taken on foot is covered one step at a time, one stride at a time. Running has always suited me. Left-right, left right, endorphins start flowing, mind starts clearing, Nature starts gracing. Hydration and calories are needed to help fuel my feet and the rest of my body in motion. But it isn’t just my physical body out on that run; my heart, mind, and soul are along for the ride as well.
Gratitude keeps me going just as much as water and food do. I was thrilled to be part of a race experience again on Sunday, after a few years away from these larger, longer events. As I fell into a rhythm, I also fell into my practice of thanking each volunteer I pass. They are at intersections, directing traffic, handing out water, staffing medical tents. “Thank you officer. Thank you volunteers. Thanks for being out here.” Dozens and dozens of volunteers across the miles, dozens and dozens of shots of gratitude to fuel my next steps.
There were spectators along the way. Some looking for their runner, others just wanting to support those of us taking the trip through their neighborhood that morning. My favorites were the kids giving out high fives as we ran past. A couple were holding posters that said “tap here for power.” You bet I tapped! And there were cowbells too. Maybe a little obnoxious, but mostly they make me smile.
Fueled by gratitude for these fellow humans and their generous energy.
This is the hat I wore Sunday morning:
The first time I wore it in a race was for the Kansas City Marathon on October 17, 2009, ten months to the day since my bilateral mastectomy. One of the last times I wore it was September 8, 2019, for the Sioux Falls Marathon, my seventeenth and final marathon, run three months after my sister Mary Jo died of metastatic breast cancer.
It’s a meaningful hat loaded with memories, inspiration, and energy.
I am here today, sixteen years since my BC diagnosis. I am older and aging in new ways. What a gift it is to be getting older! What a cherished treasure to still be running! What opportunities I get that some no longer do. What profound gratitude I have. It fuels my runs and my daily life. Onward!
