Lucky 13

Who says the number 13 is unlucky?

In high school I wore the #13 in softball. Well, only until my Sophomore year when the center-fielder and I ran into one another and I ended up lying on the ground and picked up by a nice ambulance crew who gently cut my shirt off, since they could not move me, afraid I had a severe neck injury.... Ok, so back then it may not have seemed so lucky

But today, today it is a very lucky number for me! Why? Because, today I ran for exactly 13 minutes!! The alarm went off at 5:45am and as I came out of my cold medicine induced fog, I heard the rain falling outside and asked myself if I should just stay in bed, but I knew that no rest could make me feel better than a run. On top of that, I LOVE to run in the rain!! With the mild temperature of 47 today, I dressed accordingly and headed out the door.

I feel like I'm doing a bike safety check, each step posing a question about my body alignment, my foot strike, my arm position, my head position, my breathing pattern. Then it occurred to me, this is my chance to mold my running form again. I can justify the slow come back, because now I can correct some of my bad running form habits, and strengthen my good habits.

As each minute ticked by, I found that peace inside me that I have missed so dearly the past 3.5 months. I ended knowing that my heart could run forever and as soon as my knee and lungs are 100% I know that they will also be ready to run forever.

All this in a mere lucky 13 minutes!!!