“I don’t believe in luck. Luck = Leaving things to chance and outside world. I believe in being harbingers of our fate, taking action and creating our own path and destiny in life. Your life is yours to create – Don’t let others do it for you.”

– Celestine Chua

 

It has been a weekend for the record books for me. Even after a serious coma-like nap Sunday late afternoon, and a somewhat full night’s sleep Sunday night, I am still moving a little slower than usual. My body is fine, but every energy cell in me is completely zapped.

 

It started off quiet enough with a trip to the movies. I haven’t been to the movies in a while and I have been dying to catch The Avengers, so M and I headed to the Upper West Side to catch the 7:30 feature. I really liked it. Then again, I loved all the Iron Man movies, so I wasn’t surprised that I enjoyed this one as well. 

 

Saturday morning was Lauryl, Holly and I’s 10K race in Central Park. The Women’s Mini 10K was the original first all female road race 40 years ago. Before women had equal rights in sporting events, women’s running was more of an oddity than anything to be taken seriously. It was a fun race, a little tough considering Central Park’s hills are never a welcomed sight, but I came in at my fastest 10K time to date, and enjoyed sharing the morning with my friends. 

     

 

After the race, Lauryl and I went to the Upper West Side to support some of the girls we babysit, in their children’s production of Dear Edwina, Jr. It was entertaining to say the least, but minus the fact that it was a children’s show, it is always fun to see these kids we have become so close to, give all they got on that stage. No matter how small their parts were. 

 

I then headed out for a quick beer with my gal, Whitty, who moved away to Florida on me a few years ago. 

 We are so serious.

 

Then I was off to Jersey to spend the night at D’s so we could get to the race in the morning together. The GWBridge Challenge is a 5K/10K/Cycle race who’s proceeds go towards the American Cancer Society. But it was also D’s first 10K!

 

After a bit of a tedious morning, we finally got our race bibs and waited around for the start. 

See NOT so sweaty!

 

After a huge delay at the start of the race, D and I were finally on our way. I will cut to the basics to keep things short and sweet. She was awesome. It was a hilly course, and since the race was so delayed, it also was a bit hotter than we were anticipating. She not only ran, but she ran hard. She listened to her body, focused on her breathing, and pushed through. 

 

We made it just under an hour, and D’s sprint to the finish line looked as if she was competing in the 2012 Olympics. It was awesome. And before you knew it, we were handed medals and had ran our first 10K together!

 So very sweaty.

 

Like I said, it was a weekend for the books. For someone who started off running at such a young age, I have gotten use to it being such a solo sport. But in the past 2 years, many of my friends have started lacing up their shoes as well. All for different reasons. But I have to say that my reason for running is only strengthened by my friends. I love it. I love that my friends share the road with me. I love encouraging and being encouraged. I love crossing the finish line and yelling “YOU DID IT!” to my best friend of 12 years.

 

There really is nothing like it. 

 

Happy Monday y’all!