Shut Up and Run Guthrie

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I have excuses, excuses for everything. My best & most worn with use are the ones used to explain why I don’t exercise. 

Here are some of my best:
1. Work is soooooo busy. 
2. The kids take up so much of my time. 
3. I have to clean the house, car, cottage, farm….

You get the picture. Several ladies from my school knew I had signed up for the Tamarac Ottawa Race Weekend Half Marathon. Tracy & Tammy were running the 10K and encouraged me to join them. I wavered, meh. I have to take the kids to swimming, gymnastics and I had swimming registration, groceries…again meh. Then it happened, they ask me to drive into the city. Craptastic, now I was accountable for getting all of us to the race… bottom line I was now running the 10k. 

With all athletic adventures I take part in there is a lesson I learn. It is where the lesson presents itself that amazes me. Besides not having trained, not being able to find my best “fat sucking spanx type” running shorts I lined up to start my race. 

There were many voices in my head during the run, you know the doubting Thomas, the negative nanny and +Sharon DeVellis screaming at me to move my ass. Those voices chased me during the start of the race. 

Then this happened:

Are you kidding me..what am I doing?
While running through the Glebe, I actual ran past our first home and thought how easy it would be to just go sit on the porch and wait for someone to find me. 

Then I saw this little piece of inspiration :
The white strings connects the Guide & Visually Impaired runner. 

There were runners from all over the world at the Tamarack Race Weekend in Ottawa. It has an army of volunteers that make this race a success. Each runner has a story and this was one story I discovered about along the way:


This couple’s shirts say “I Run For Hope & I Run For Life”. In my breathless state I was unable to ask the couple if they were running for their daughter, sister or friend. I wanted to ask, I wanted to sit and have coffee right their on the canal and hear about their journey. But then I saw this sign….


Then I made it to this part of the race, I could taste the end. The wind was blowing, the never ending cheering crowd continued to inspire me. This was the last water station along the canal route, stunning and disturbingly messy all at the same.


Rounding toward the last kilometre I saw this sign and I knew the end was near.



Finally after crossing the finish line, I ran through this tunnel as the sun was setting with the Peace Tower peaking over the trees. 


This picture could not have happened without the encouragement of these two ladies. I just wanted to say thank you Tracy & Tammy. Now when is our next race?



Lesson learned, I need to just shut up and run. My excuses are hollow and I blame my unbalanced life on work, school and fatigue when in reality I know I just need to say Shut It and Go Guthrie, you are the only person holding you back now. 

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