OK, OK, I’m going to get a little emotional/inspirational (I hope) for a bit here.

It was such a beautiful day I decided to do tomorrow’s long run today.

before and after

It’s a step back week so my long run is “only” 10 miles. But 10 miles is long enough for me to really dig deep into my thoughts and emotions. Today’s big epiphany….Inner strength is more important than anything.

I was listening to this song by Bon Jovi called Army of One. It just got me thinking about how important it is to build strength (emotional and physical) within yourself and not to expect that someone else will always be there to make you feel good and strong. Yes, sometimes it’s a family member, spouse or friend who gives you strength but ultimately you need to be your own soldier. When you can find a passion (for me that’s running) that helps you build that strength you are only going to be able to tackle that much more that comes your way. Don’t get me wrong, there are things that happen in life that are almost impossible to get through alone. I’ve been there. When my husband was terminal and we knew he only had weeks to live I broke down one day at work just trying to grapple with the inevitable that he WOULDN’T be able to be the one to comfort me at his funeral. Who’s arms would I have to hug me and tell me it’ll be ok. This April will be 15 years since I lost him. I made it through those early years even before running by taking walks, joining a kickboxing class with my friend Gina, seeking out support from people who had been through similar situations and ultimately coining a nickname for myself. I was The Rock! I wanted to be strong for myself. I wanted to get up every day and find the joy in life. Granted, there were times I was so overwhelmed with grief I couldn’t get out of bed and I did rely on friends at times to carry me through. But it’s that inner strength that I tapped into then. And I have continued to do so through my running. I’ve been running about 7 or 8 years now and as I reached personal distance records and personal time records I’ve cried tears of amazement. Each mile that I log is like a stitch in the wicking technical fabric of me. =)

When you’re struggling with something in life or with a bad workout, don’t make your first reaction to go cry to your spouse or your mom but rather do something to empower yourself and build that strength. Go for a walk, write in a journal, take a step back and take a deep breath and assess the situation and how you can help yourself through it. Be that army of one…

OK, gonna switch gears here for something funny (well not really funny)….Duncan managed to get car grease all over him. I have no idea how. I tried to get it out with baby wipes but you can see in the zoomed in pic that apparently it’s still not all out. Looks like he’s getting a bath later.

greasy doodle

And if you follow me on Instagram then you saw this sweet pic…

And to switch gears again, let me tell you about this awesome new item that I bought for myself that arrived today. It’s called the Joby GripTight Micro Stand and it’s this tiny little stand for my iPhone. It folds up and attaches to a keychain!

I’ve noticed since getting the new iPhone 5s that my case is not flat and I can’t seem to prop my phone up to take pictures using the timer. This is a big problem in the blogworld no? So I got this stand to take with me on runs. It was only $20 on Amazon.

Well, I’m taking advantage of this commitment-free evening to channel surf and foam roll. Bliss!

Have a great weekend!

Question: Do you ever have epiphanies while running?

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