Let Freedom Run

Tomrrow, I will be waking up early to experience, as they say, "Pain You Enjoy." I am running the Freedom Run 10K. I did this run last year, and it was great! It was my first 10K and I found the distance to be just the right amount for me. Far enough to feel physically and mentally challenged, and far enough to feel like I really had to push myself, without over-doing it and suffering for weeks.

Now that July is here, I have been thinking a lot about other things in my life as well. A good friend of ours at work just had an operation on a major brain tumor in his cerebellum. We only found out that he even had the tumor a week ago yesterday. It was one of those things that could have (and still might) result in some life-changing situations for him and his family. From what we have heard to this point, a miraculous situation involving a cyst that had found it's way into the brain allowed the surgeon to enter and remove the tumor successfully with less invasion than they previously thought. Heavenly Father truly works in wonderous ways. I've been thinking a lot about our life here at Aspen Grove as well. The winds of change may be blowing sometime in the future. Speaking of the future, I wish there was a road map that would tell me which direction to go sometimes. If things had gone as we planned them to, there would be another addition to our family this month. But once again, they did not go as we planned as I miscarried back at the beginning of December, and again towards the end of January. We decided to hold off on our plans for a bit after that. Going through it 3 times (once before baby James) makes me wonder if I have a condition that makes me more susceptible.

But, here I am rambling. To keep my mind off things last winter, I changed my focus and started putting in more work at the gym, training to run the races which I am now doing. And I have really loved it. Focusing my mind and body on being healthy has been very healing and rewarding. Running is oftentimes a spiritual experience for me, after I get past that first mile or so and get into my groove. So, here's to hoping for another great run tomorrow!

UPDATE: I finished in 58:26. My goal was under an hour, so I actually did a little better than I though I would. My quads & calves are pretty sore today, though. Must be from my sprint dash to the finish :)