Running With My Big Bro

There is something about a run with my brother on a cold Thanksgiving morning that is beyond special to me.  So special in fact, that I had to sneak back here and write a quick blog.  Gosh, what has this blog thing done to me?!  But seriously, running with my brother brings with it a huge bag of memories and meanings.  Most my memories of my brother growing up involve him running.  Our dad died when my brother was about six years old (I was 4 and my younger bro was 1) and it was almost as if he grew up instantly.  Instead of doing the normal things that boys his age did, he spent his free time running.  He would run up to 10 miles a day sometimes.  Running was so much a part of his life.  We spent many weekends going to his races in Colorado and once he started track and cross country,  his races became a family event.  When he did something to warrant a grounding from our parents, they had nothing to take away from him but his running.  Ha!  Was that ever funny to watch. Poor kid probably just needed some serious therapy sessions to get to the root of his obsessive compulsive behavior but it was funny to watch him try to do run laps around his small bedroom just to feel like he didn't miss out completely on his daily running.  

It was my big brother that convinced me to join the cross country team when I was a freshman in high school.  Up until then I would make fun of running and say that it took no talent.  I mean all you had to do was move your arms and legs, right?! I think I mostly said that to get his goat but eventually I started believing that running was stupid.  I was motivated to join the cross country team just as a way to have a social life since my mom insisted on having me in homeschool for several years.  I'm so THANKFUL for my brother and his part in helping me discover running.  It has been one of the biggest loves of my life since then! It also was a way for me to feel connected to my dad since he was a runner.  Running was his passion and having it become my passion was like having my dad near me. It was so amazing to discover a talent that I never knew I had.  It was as if it set me free.  Free to mourn the death of my dad, discover myself, express my emotions, and experience a joy that I never knew life had to offer.

My brother eventually grew up to be a normal guy and enjoy life outside of running. Well, I wouldn't exactly say we are normal but we like it that way.   And now here he is with his wonderful wife and unborn child on Thanksgiving day with us! Thank you big brother...for our runs, for our childhood together, and for getting me to join cross country so many years ago! 

Randomness:

*  Having a love/hate relationship with Blogging lately.  Maybe a blog burn out? I realize that I have blogged every single day for about a month now.  I'm an all or nothing girl.  When I decide to pick something up for the first time, I go all out and can get a bit obsessive (runs in the family).  I'm ready to bring it down a notch and remind myself why I started blogging....for ME.  As a way to express myself and have an outlet for my thinking.  I didn't start blogging to collect "followers" like pins on my letter jacket in high school.  I didn't start blogging so other bloggers would comment and "like" me.  I started blogging for ME!  And that is what I have to keep it as...a REAL form of expression of thinking from my Mind.  If I make a few friends in the process, then that is just icing on my blog cake.  :) 

*  Thinking back to August when I ripped up my hamstring from a fall in the forest, I can see how far I've come in such a short amount of time.  It has seemed like forever but really, in the long scheme of things, I am fortunate to have healed so quickly.  So grateful for my legs.  Not just to run, but to be active.  To walk, dance, and skip.  Legs to play with kids on.  So very thankful for these legs!

Happy Thanksgiving,


Amanda