Week 2: A wet 3 miles

It was a super quiet Saturday morning this week.  Liliana didn't wake up until after 7:30, so there wasn't really enough time to get her ready to go.  Plus, with the threat of rain on a cool morning, I wasn't sure how fun it would be for her to chill out in the stroller getting wet!  Only half of our team was there this week; a couple of moms had prior commitments and we're guessing the others saw the rain and said no thanks.

I'm not a stranger to rainy runs.  When I was marathon training, we had a run just before we were supposed to get by a hurricane.  The rain was falling in sheets and my running shoes had puddles!  In comparison, yesterday really wasn't bad at all.  It was just a light mist of a rain for the most part, which got slightly heavier toward the end of the run, but backed off before we left.

Without Liliana with me, I forgot just how difficult it is to carry things without a stroller!  It was quiet enough without having to entertain her, but I also didn't have a way to carry my phone, so I went without music as well.  I typically like something to help distract me on runs to make them go by faster, and I also like having my phone to track my pace, but I made do without.

We've been running in a cemetery the past couple of weeks.  It's a nice, paved loop that's just over a mile.  Something about the cemetery, the rain and the quiet just made me very reflective.  I don't doubt that many of the people buried there lost their lives to cancer.  In a way, I felt like I was running for them.  I'm still feeling a little rusty, so those three miles were tougher than they used to be, but thinking about the people whose lives have been lost, and those we are trying to save, helped carry me through.

I've been super sensitive to the topic of cancer lately.  As we all know, October is breast cancer awareness month, and this year it hits close to home.  For those who don't know, my mom is battling stage 2 breast cancer and will be having a mastectomy next week, followed by chemotherapy.  The pink is everywhere this month, and every time I see it, it reminds me of her.  Her prognosis is very good, but she has a long journey to remission.

So while I'm technically running for leukemia and lymphoma research, I'm also running in honor of my mom this time.  If I can be half as strong as my mom, I'll be capable of conquering any hill, even while pushing a stroller with a flat tire.  She is so brave and so determined. I feel helpless sometimes, being so far away from her, but at least I can run.