Day Twenty-One

Okay, so maybe I skipped a couple of days, but who's counting, anyway?

I ran into someone I know this morning on my five miler before work. Her name is Carrie Light and she's a local fitness trainer who (extremely) successfully runs her own business. I remember I first met her in the summer of 2010 when I moved back out to Langley with my kiddos. I was running along Telegraph Trail and I was gaining speed on this blonde lady up ahead of me and when I finally caught up to her I felt compelled to turn my music off and chat with her a bit.

She was so warm to me straight away, exclaiming how much she looks up to me and my running, telling me that she and her partner have been watching me run for years! She said that they compare my speed and fitness levels, noticing that I have been steadily improving over the last few months (this was back then). It was nice to be encouraged, but I felt like there was something more going on, you know? There's just something about Carrie that makes it so easy to just open up and feel at ease.

She asked me where I worked and I told her that I was having a hard time finding a job. I told her about my degree, she gave me some ideas and told me to email her. But we also talked about life, and what I was going through at that time (I was in the earlier stages of separating from my ex-husband) and she opened up with me as well and shared some stuff that she had gone through, and what had helped her cope.

Honestly? This never happens. I know you guys probably see people running along the road all the time and think we just all hang out in groups and talk about sweat marks and blisters, but most of us are runners for a reason (if we liked people that much we'd play on a team of some sort, seriously!!). So unless we make a pointed effort to meet people for a run, it's a pretty sure bet that we're slogging it out there on our own. So to have this 20 minutes of heart-to-heart in the middle of a 20-miler was unheard of for me. It's like we were brought together at the exact right time for a purpose.

I saw her at the Running Room a couple of times when I worked there and again a few times at Starbucks and we'd always exchange looks, like "hey... it'll be okay, hang in there." She'd always give me a hug or when I was behind the counter she'd give me a high five. She's just amazing like that. Some people are always full, you know? Full and overflowing. I want to be like that. She inspires me, and it's so fitting that her last name is Light.

I saw her this morning and told her about my new job at the physiotherapist's office and sure enough I got tackled with a bear hug. I tried to warn her about my contagious head cold, sweaty hair and probable snot smears on my jacket but she didn't seem to care. She just wanted to give, no matter what my condition. I like that. A lot.

May I be a Light too.