[Steph, I'll give you a dollar if you can remind me what movie that's from... again.]
You may have seen it on Twitter, or you could have seen it on Facebook, or maybe you didn’t see it at all. But I ran this morning. At 6:45. In 18-degree weather. With flurries. After the first couple of miles, the searing pain from the chill was gone, and the snowflakes started sticking to my eyelashes. It. Was. Glorious.
We ran for what seemed like 3.5 miles uphill, then came back. The team coach and I backtracked a bit on the trail to check on some of the other runners, so we snuck in an extra mile or so. And I swear to you, it was all uphill coming back. I now believe people when they say they had to walk to school in the snow, uphill both ways. Holy freaking cow.
I know that those of you from up north think I’m nutso, but those flurries falling is probably the most exciting thing that has happened to me this season. But understand that I was born and raised here in Nashville, so just the word flurry makes me giddy.
Pair that with the sky, painted in shades of lavender, blue and the gold of sunshine… Like I said. It. Was. Glorious.
But the part of this morning that really gave me the drive to keep going was the humbling nature of our crew. Before our weekly runs, we have a mission moment. This week, it was so encouraging. The story was of this person who was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) not too far from the time that Gleevac, a drug that’s used to treat various forms of cancer, was approved by the FDA. Thanks to that medication, discovered because of people who give their resources for a cure, this person is now living a healthy life. She’s a huge supporter of Team In Training and serves as a reminder of why we wake up at 6 a.m. every Saturday morning to run miles upon miles in freezing weather. It’s stories like hers that drive us to pester friends, family and complete strangers to donate money, so that other cancer patients can re-label themselves as survivors.
It’s my goal to put a stop to stories that end like Tristan and Hannah’s. I run because I can. I run to find a cure. I run to save lives.
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If I know what movie it’s from do I get a dollar too?