Going to talk about Running, I promise i'll talk about knitting soon

So, today I ran the Cheshire Half Marathon . This was my third half marathon, and 3 is mu lucky number! Everything was perfect about this race.

Yesterday I woke up not feeling great. My stomach was not my friend. It was also 80 + degrees. As I was driving to CT all I could think of was "if this weather keeps up I'm going to run a 5 K." After watching the news, and learning that it would be almost 20 degrees cooler, I made my decision to run the half.

As many of you know I was running this race to support the SARAH Foundation. My family will forever be grateful for the services that they have provided to our aunt Candy.

Finishing my last race was bitter sweet. The race was great, the vacation was fun. As I returned from my vacation I got terrible news. Many tears were shed training for this race as I learned to accept daily life without my friend.

As I started this race I had one goal, finish in the 3:15 course limit.

Early on I met another runner who shared his mantra with me "finish today." Would love that, but today it was 3:15.

I loaded some great music into my spotify playlist. I didn't have my headphones, so I played through the speaker in my fanny pack. The first song that I could hear, as the pack broke up.... We are Family. Yup, that's what I needed early in this race to remind me that I have wonderful people supporting me along the way.

one of the street signs "Watch hill Rd." For many years my family visited Watch hill in Rhode Island to ride the carousel. We'd go out there on my grandfather's boat. These memories carried me another couple of miles.

So many wonderful friends donated for the joy of adding a song to my playlist. Since I had my music playing, other people could here the tracks. At around mile 9 New Kids on the Block came on. 2 Other runners were thrilled to hear it and thanked me for having it playing. It was so great to hear all of the great tracks and remember who added them to the list.

Around mile 10 I was sore. really really sore. I walked, and I was still sore. Not sure why, but I was.

I pushed it really hard to finish, and when I saw the 3:09 finish time I was AMAZED.

This race was truly one of the best!
- well marked
- lots of volunteers
- well spaced water tables
- well spaced porta potties
- LOTS of entertainment
- The Cheshire High School Athletes were all over the course and they were amazing.

Even being at the back of the pack, the services along the route were there for all of us.

(I came home to see that the nephew is wearing my lucky number for little league this year!!)

The people that I knit for

Fact is, I enjoy knitting for other people. I have a number of items that I love that are my own, and the sweater that I am knitting is proof of that. But fact is, I love knitting for other people.

Nothing gives me more joy than a new hat for a baby, a gift for my nephew, a scarf for a friend. Recently I realized the people that I have not knit for, and now I cannot.

In January I lost a friend and coworker. We worked together for 4 years. We spoke every day 5 days a week, frequently more than that. We found joy as our sisters brought nephews and nieces and nephews into our lives. I made a hat for her first nephew. She donated to every event that I participated in. She was the first person to wish me a happy birthday, and she even gave me yarn for my birthday. But never did I cast on something for her.

I'm sure I thought of it. I'm sue I considered it. I'm sure I even found a pattern. Now I cannot.

I know that I cannot go back in time, and in this situation a part of me so wishes that I could. This loss was not one that I was prepared for. It was one that was sudden, unexpected, and sad. When I lost my grandfather is was 92. He lived a life of service, business, and family. He saw his great Grandchildren. He traveled, he saw the world. While his loss was not "expected" I was able to prepare. He fell ill, we knew how sick he was. We knew that he didn't want machines. We knew.. It's possible that even he knew.

When my friend lost he child it was tragic. Madeline was 11 years old. She had battled cancer twice. She was a fighter, correction... she was a tiger. But as tragic and heartbreaking as this loss was, it was one that we could prepare for. Chemo was no longer working. The cancer was taking over. She was in pain.

I never knit for my friend because I always thought there would be time. I always thought I would be able to talk to her. I expected she would be able to tell me he favorite color, and I am sure it would have been a shade of pink. I'm sure it would have been something like a scarf that she could wear in the office because she was always cold. It would match perfectly with her pink boots that she loved so much.

I promise to tell you more about my new sweater that is on the needles soon. But I had to get this out there.