A Fantastic Day in Rome (Georgia)

We spent half of yesterday in beautiful Rome, Georgia at our girl’s first cross country meet of the season. Since she only raced once last year before missing her season to a severe stress fracture, this was going to be her 2nd ever meet! All of us were excited, but nervous about the possibility of more injury.

It turned out to be a spectacular day for everyone….our daughter, us, our teams!

First Race

The first race of the day was an open race. My husband and I decided to run it. My husband had a blood sugar dip right before the start, so I lined up by myself. There were middle schoolers as well as post high school runners. I noticed our mechanic’s son near me. He is one of the fastest runners in Atlanta, and an xc coach. He had his team there for the meet, and decided to run. When the gun went off, it seemed like the whole field of runners except me was sprinting. I noticed I was one of the oldest runners, and just prayed not to finish last!

The course was beautiful and rolling. But I went slower than I’d hoped. I felt ashamed of how slowly I was going. Especially with our whole team plus parents there! After passing by the 2 mile mark, I saw our teams lined up on one  side of the course, many parents lined up on the other. Oh crap. They were cheering so loudly, and I felt so embarrassed of my slowness that I didn’t even look up as I approached them. As I neared them, it occurred to me that no one knew how slowly i was running; they were just happy to see me running. I looked up and waved and smiled! The girls had made up a cheer/chant/dance. It was so cute and It made me so happy! 

Today a few of them recreated the cheer at my house and allowed me to film it. I have already watched/shared SOO many times! 

Here you go:

Second Race

Girls varsity. 2 great things about this race: our daughter hit her goal, and so did her best running buddy!

Our daughter’s goal was to finish the race, and finish pain free! Her time wasn’t great, but she finished! And without pain!! There will be a second Race this season!

At least as exciting is the fact that our girl’s bff (the one I wrote about 2 posts ago), PR’d by 20 seconds! I couldn’t be more proud if she were my own!! She changed her strategy, and went out faster than normal. It worked! And the icing on this one is that she was able to beat her arch rival for the very first time! 

Third Race

Boy’s varsity. Our fastest boy is only a sophomore. He had an outstanding freshman year. He looked awesome yesterday, and won the entire race! 15:59. It was thrilling to watch how much he won by. 

Fourth Race

JV girls and boys combined.  This was a crowded race. It took a long time for the racers to space out. 

It also took a while for the race to finish. While we watched the last runners finish, we heard a loud cheer go up as the last runner and his bike escort appeared. As he ran by, I saw that he was a Downes Syndrome young man.
Oh my goodness…how inspiring. Sappy to say, but I shed a tear on that one.

What an amazing sport and an awesome day!

Here is a pic of the the parents/family supporters…lots of us!

An Inspiring Weekend Encounter

As I was starting my run on Saturday, I noticed my neighbor finishing hers.  Well…at least I thought it was her.  As she got closer, I doubted myself.  But I’d already waved, and stopped my run to greet her.  Is this L? I kept wondering to myself.  It kind of looked like her, but not really.  L is not a close friend, and I hadn’t seen her in probably 6 months.    When she stopped running and started chatting with me, I realized it actually was her.  Just a MUCH diminished her.

A little back story here.  I know from Facebook that she is my age (53).  A few years ago, I noticed that she and her husband had really gained quite a bit of weight.  Well it turns out that their youngest (and only boy), a teenager had some health issues that required a kidney transplant!!  After a lot of prayer, one of their daughters offered her kidney to her brother.  I can only imagine the fear and worry for both of their children these parents had to go through.  Not only the operation, but also the worry about rejection and infection…(It has been several years now, and both son and daughter are healthy).

Really, no wonder the parents gained weight!

Now back to this Saturday: During the course of my  conversation with L, I learned that she had started running and had dropped 50 pounds!!! Wow!  50 pounds alone is truly inspiring.  Then combine it with the fact that she is WELL into middle age and lost the weight!  It seems like it would have been so easy for her to just slide into her senior years overweight.

Three days later, I still feel inspired by her accomplishment!  What an awesome lady.

Now here’s the tear-jeryky part.  She said I inspire her.