Thankful!!!

I am so thankful that I can run.  In May I injured my left knee because I went took my miles from 3.2 up to almost 5 in one run and come to find out I was wearing the wrong shoes for my feet that didn't support me the way I needed support and they were too small.  Yes I did buy them from a "running" store that was supposed to ensure I had the correct shoes for me.

A little PSA & advertisement for a local small business owner here before writing more...If you're in the Des Moines area you must go to Kyle's Bikes in Ankeny.  They record you running on a treadmill barefoot and slow it way down so they can see how your foot hits and then find the best shoe from there.  I then tried on shoes that were designed for my type of foot, ran more in each shoe, watched how I hit and how it felt for me and then bought the perfect shoes for me.  They spent about an hour with me making sure I walked out with the perfect shoe for me and shoe that would help in getting to my goal of running the half in October.  They even told me to first run a few times on the treadmill and if I didn't like how they felt after those runs to bring them back and they would exchange them.  Needless to say I love them and didn't need to exchange them.

So back to why I'm thankful.....I am so thankful that I have fell in love again with running.  I used to run cross county in high school and I did like it.  I was always near the end of the pack but I always felt so good in finishing and how it felt.  It is also such an amazing support group...Runners IMHO are some of the nicest people.  It's a great way to re-connect with old friends and make new friends.  Today I had the honor of running with my friend from high school, Shelly.  Until facebook and our 20 year high school class reunion we totally lost touch.  Had it not been for these two events I would have most likely gone with out ever seeing her again and I'm so thankful for having these outlets to re-connect (same with many I went to HS with and now I think of the Friday night of our HS reunion and I still can't stop smiling and laughing.  It's like we never missed a beat we just got better!).  I told her I'm super slow and to run a head if she wanted and she ran with me for a while and then went off to her own until the end.  It was so fun to run with her, talk to her, get to know her more outside of a high school setting.  She still looks the same as she did 20 years ago but it's great to see how she's grown into a woman..it's been great seeing how all of us grew into great women.

I'm so thankful for my DailyMile family.  For those that don't know DailyMile is an online social network for athletes (in my case I'm not an athlete but I like to play one on TV).  It doesn't matter your skill level it's just a big community of like minded people who push one another to exceed what they thought possible.  I've never met most of them face to face but they are always there for me with a word of encouragement when I feel like I'm not succeeding in my sport and there to cheer me on when I kill a run or a work out.  

I am so thankful that this injury did not totally take me away from running and that I've learned from it.  How to not get injured in the future and how to teach others not to injur themselves.

What I've learned in this journey (not just in running but in life really) be thankful for all good and bad.  In the bad times it is not fun but when you get to the other side and look back you really realize it's all for a reason and when you peel the layers of the onion back you realize it was for your own good, you learn and grow from the struggles.

Frederick Douglass said it best,  "If there is no struggle, there is no progress"