Running Down Memory Lane & into the Future

On Friday I sprained my ankle while racing 5 blocks to get to work.  I actually turned my ankle out, which lead me to believe I had a high ankle sprain.  I didn't hurt badly, but I knew from my years of playing soccer that if there was any ligament damage, I'd be in for a long recovery. 

Glucosamine. Iburofen.  Stretching.  Seemed ok today...

March is so unpredictable in Buffalo, NY.   It was snowing last week, but today was a beautiful, sunny (though windy), warm day.   Around 3:30 this afternoon I thought, "what the heck", strapped on my Garmin, and headed out for a run.  I had a route planed out in my head... a route I love because the roads traveled cover my early childhood in the neighborhood I lived in for the first decade of my life and wrap around to my parents current house where we moved to when I was in 6th grade. The start and finish is my current home... right in between the two neighborhoods, where my husband and I live. Approximately an 8 mile run filled with memories from the past.

I smile and wave to the people in that neighborhood from the first decade of my life, though I do not know who they are anymore.  The streets are the same, some of the houses look a bit different (especially the one I grew up in) and many of the people I knew are no longer there either, but I cannot help but feel like that 9-year-old fearless kid, the shy tomboy who loved hockey and getting dirty... excited that I would now be able to stay out later and play with friends since the time change would provide an extra hour of sunlight.

After I finished the winding roads of my earliest memories, I bolted onto a main road that would take me 4 miles away from that little neighborhood... to the neighborhood where I would attend middle school, high school, and continue to live in through college and a few years thereafter.  It's a little more upscale than the little neighborhood a grew up in, but it holds a special place in my heart.  So  many memories of joy and heartbreak as an adolescent, a teenager, and even an adult flooded my mind as I ran those roads today. 

The latter was the neighborhood where I took up running, got on the school bus, and had my heart broken more times than one.  It was the neighborhood where my dreams of law enforcement fell apart when I was diagnosed with dystonia, where I struggled to finish up college, and where I learned that I would not be defeated by my disease.  It was the house where my angel would pick my up for dates... where I eventually learned that the quote "no guy is worth your tears, and the one who is won't break your heart" was so very true.

As I ran through the neighborhood of my teenage years and where I'd enter into adulthood (though I am still a child at heart), I was about 6 miles into my run when I heard two voices call out to me, "Coach Nicole!  Coach Nicole!"  Not wearing my glasses, I couldn't see exactly who they were, but I turned around, waving and responding, "Hey!!  How's it going???" and I continued on my way.  I felt a surge of energy go through my body after the girls recognized me as their assistant Girls on the Run coach this past fall. I wondered if they'd be joining us again in the spring for Girls on Track.  I suddenly felt like, "hey, I made an impression... on these girls!"

I got to thinking about the spring.  Since Williamsville will not allow us to advertise on school grounds, I began to worry about how Girls on Track will pan out this spring... and what about next year?  Apparently we only have 6 girls registered at the Middle School.  There's still time left, and parents tend to procrastinate, but the group of 12 girls in the fall was such a huge success that the mere thought that we might need to cancel is extremely disappointing.  It'll work out... I hope... and if it doesn't, there's always the fall... the Williamsville Central School District will not scare me or stop me from believing in this program...  I know we'll have our full team... keepin' the faith...

Endomondo Running Workout: was out running 8.45 miles in 1h:09m:53s using Endomondo.