registered

I just realized that today is my half-birthday. Today, I'm 32 and 1/2.

Today, I am in that inevitable place and space of looking back on the road we have traveled - particularly over the last five years.

I see a picturesque trail with mountains, blue skies, green trees, beautiful friends, beloved community, life and death and much more life. I have traveled many miles in five years. One step at a time, I have been monumentally and eternally transformed.

Thank you.

Her dream was vivid and clear, and I was its star. "You don't have to worry about the Ironman," she said. "Take in the sights. Delight in the city. Enjoy the run."

For years and years, I sat idly by and I held back because I feared the road -- the daunting destination ahead. How would I go? How would I get there? "Just start," she said. "JUST START," He said. Two simple words have changed my life. Small Steps. A new day. A clean slate.

I am no longer and will never again be the woman I was. That which I once missed is now the substance -- the essence -- of all that I am and everything I hope to become. I have been moved. I am alive. And I am changed.

Oh, the Journey -- the process -- it is poetry. The story is destiny. And it is the kingdom, and it is eternity. I see it. I feel it. I taste it. I smell it. Miles have been logged. Boulders mark the way, and I am overwhelmed.

Oh this road, it was never meant to be traveled alone. Friends have become family, and family have become friends. I am better because of the people I have encountered. Oh, sweet Jesus, I thank you. I thank you.

This is my last summer in Denver. I'm poised and purposed and ready to run, to re-trace my steps, to mark my path and to remember. To remember. I fully intend to heed, to delight and to enjoy. Interested?

I put out the request every year, and I have never gotten any takers. Perhaps THIS is my year. This is the last time I'm asking, because I'm moving, folks! I'm officially registered for the Bolder Boulder over Memorial Day weekend (EA wave), the Rocky Mountain 1/2 Marathon in mid-June and the Tri for the Cure in early August. I'd love some company, so If you've been thinking about it and it's time, let's do it. Just start.

Perhaps this is YOUR year. Perhaps this the year that we will run together. Or perhaps we won't. Perhaps these are my races to run on my own. If I must, I will. I began, I will end, and I will move ahead with a race. Whatever the case, I will run, and I will take you with me.