It’s surprising how things work out sometime. I went for a walk this morning around 6:45. I did a loop on the Oak Leaf Trail, going north to Hampton Ave. As I came back south through Estabrook Park, I saw a group of people setting up signs and tables and such. Turns out they were setting up for the G.R.I.N.D. 5K Run/Walk.
I got home from my walk, looked up the run, and when I saw what “G.R.I.N.D.” meant, decided in a second to get my running clothes on and go participate in the run. I’m a believer in the importance of coincidences, that they can be “suggestions” from the World, if I pay attention and notice them.
G.R.I.N.D. means “Gee’s Run In a New Direction”. In the past year, as I’ve worked through my divorce, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have a dear friend helping me through it. In our conversations, a phrase that has come up time and time again has been “there is only one direction.” Whenever I get down, she’s been there to remind me, “there is only one direction – forward.”
I’ve been working on this, and it hasn’t been easy. I haven’t run regularly since last November, when my divorce was finalized. I tried to start running late this winter, but had an attack of sciatica in February, and that put me out of commission for a few more months. Only in the past few weeks have I started running again. So, coming across Gee’s run this morning – it just seemed like I had to do it.
For Gee, this was a “walk/run to raise awareness of health disparities in the urban community as it relates to nutrition and exercise.” Local law-makers Lena Taylor and Elizabeth Coggs were on hand at the start to give a special commendation to Gee and this team who put the run together
The run went well. I didn’t make a great time, but I really didn’t expect to. I finished; I didn’t walk once.
I’ve still got some recovery ahead of me in my head, heart, and body – I’ve just gotta keep moving forward.
(this run was organized by Gee, of Gee’s Clippers, where I made some photos for a magazine story back in 2007 – you can see some of those below!)
