heated August pathways
The week of August 15, 2005, I was in Augusta, Georgia with my family and my sister's (at that time) future husband and his brother. We were there for the SLT intensive. That's the setting.
It was Wednesday morning and we had several hours to relax and kill time before the meeting would start at 7 pm. I had gone running a few times with the guys and Michelle earlier in the summer, but never on any kind of regular schedule. After eating a large southern breakfast that included grits, toast, bacon, and coffee, someone suggested we go for a run - in the humid, 90+ degree, noontime heat. So naturally, Adam, Erick, Michelle, Zach and I all got our running clothes on and ventured outside. We knew we were pushing sanity at the time, but it seemed worth it nonetheless. At that point I was still trying to get in the habit of running, so I wanted to take the opportunity...and besides, who am I to back down from such a challenge?
I'll be honest, my lungs had an incredibly difficult time the whole way, which couldn't have been much more than 1.5 miles (ok, maybe I'm weak). The sun beat down on us as we ran the hilly and unfamiliar paths in the lush neighborhood. I was obviously the individual in the group that was the least in-shape, and the rest of the kids took it easy on me. I'm confident I strived my best to keep up and push through the humidity and lack of physical discipline I had. It was fine in the shade but there were times I thought I wasn't going to make it back to the house. I'm grateful to my siblings for keeping me going. Adam and Michelle especially were great at the pep-talking along the way.
It wasn't fun to be the slowest one there, but now I look back on it as an enjoyable experience, and it seems like if I could make it that far in that immense heat and humidity, I could run just about anything. Now I need to take it up again. The wedding and holidays have kept me occupied recently, but I can't just throw my running objectives out the window. So here's to a new year of learning to run, built on my scattered yet beneficial experiences in the past year.
It was Wednesday morning and we had several hours to relax and kill time before the meeting would start at 7 pm. I had gone running a few times with the guys and Michelle earlier in the summer, but never on any kind of regular schedule. After eating a large southern breakfast that included grits, toast, bacon, and coffee, someone suggested we go for a run - in the humid, 90+ degree, noontime heat. So naturally, Adam, Erick, Michelle, Zach and I all got our running clothes on and ventured outside. We knew we were pushing sanity at the time, but it seemed worth it nonetheless. At that point I was still trying to get in the habit of running, so I wanted to take the opportunity...and besides, who am I to back down from such a challenge?
I'll be honest, my lungs had an incredibly difficult time the whole way, which couldn't have been much more than 1.5 miles (ok, maybe I'm weak). The sun beat down on us as we ran the hilly and unfamiliar paths in the lush neighborhood. I was obviously the individual in the group that was the least in-shape, and the rest of the kids took it easy on me. I'm confident I strived my best to keep up and push through the humidity and lack of physical discipline I had. It was fine in the shade but there were times I thought I wasn't going to make it back to the house. I'm grateful to my siblings for keeping me going. Adam and Michelle especially were great at the pep-talking along the way.
It wasn't fun to be the slowest one there, but now I look back on it as an enjoyable experience, and it seems like if I could make it that far in that immense heat and humidity, I could run just about anything. Now I need to take it up again. The wedding and holidays have kept me occupied recently, but I can't just throw my running objectives out the window. So here's to a new year of learning to run, built on my scattered yet beneficial experiences in the past year.