Own It

I'm finally coming down from my girls' weekend giddiness. Wowzers, it was a good, quite epic. A quick rundown of our events and then onto the meat and potatoes of this post. As you all know, we are just about a month out from Wedding Day! Woot woot! The girls planned a little bachelorette weekend to celebrate the end of my singlehood. The weekend actually started Thursday when Texas Bestie, Adrienne arrived. Friday morning we were up early for me to run with Sam and for her to ride with a few of the tri guys from down here.

*New discovery- Sam & I did a new route and found a working fountain. We stuck our feet in it post-run, and it was awesome! After the run/ride, we had to hit up our favorite coffee shop. Adrienne and I then got ready and TRIED to go to the beach, but the weather was terrible. Instead we hung out and then ate lunch at my favorite beach place, The Hangout. We then headed over to paint our own masterpieces. :) Friday night was chill, as our epic bachelorette party was to be the next day EARLY.

Saturday, Robyn, Sam, and I did my favorite long run route, The Battleship. (You can see the battleship behind us on the left.) It runs 6 miles on the Causeway (over water) and then hits the hilly, but scenic parts of the two towns we usually run in, for a total of just over 16 miles


. The weather was hot & humid, but we were lucky enough to have a short, light shower a few miles in. Post-run we had brunch at the same restaurant where our wedding reception will be. Yummo! We had Bellini's, frittatas, and fruit. After breakfast, we shopped around, then headed to the resort. Yep, we did a stay-cation. I've mentioned that every Sunday, we run through a waterfront resort; well, the girls got us rooms there. We had access to the pool, and spent most of the afternoon relaxing and talking by the pretty pool and bay. Saturday evening, the girls had a little lingerie shower for me. Cute stuff! We chose to walk to dinner because it was "only" 1.2 miles away, and that way everyone could enjoy some wine without having to worry about driving. Besides, we're all runners, no big deal, right? Dinner was amazing, but that walk back- DANG! We got back to the hotel and YADA, YADA, YADA (some things don't need to be blogged about). I will say that some vodka was consumed, and we had enough fun to last years and years. Sunday morning came very a ngrily. We tried to run, made it about 2 miles before turning around. Near.Death.Never.Drinking.Again.

Sunday Sam hosted a beautiful shower for me at her house. Many of my school and running friends came, as well as Keith's family. We had a lot of fun, and everything was very nice. And this leads to my next point...

A few weeks ago, I got my feelings hurt as a result of posting my blog into the Brooks FB page. Not to rehash the whole story, but after my funny "find a man" post, someone said something along the lines of "you shouldn't need someone else to be happy." I wouldn't call it mean, but I would definitely say it was not polite or encouraging, and honestly, it bothered me. My first instinct was to defend myself, which I attempted to, but...

Sometimes coaches teach you things without even knowing it, and sometimes the things you learn aren't even about running. (I try to remember this when working with my athletes. You never know how powerful your words might be!) I reached out to my coach (He is also Brooks ID) because I was feeling pretty embarrassed about what I had posted (thought about deleting it, but didn't want her to 'win'), and I had also gotten my feelings hurt. A lot more dialogue took place, but his point was for me to not worry about what so-and-so thinks and to embrace who I am. Maybe that's a Southern Redneck fool or country bumpkin? Maybe that's someone crazy in love? The more I thought about that, the more I liked it.

And then after this weekend and MORE reflection, I came to the conclusion that YES, I DO need people. Does that make me inferior to need others? Maybe? Maybe not? Why is it wrong to need another person? In another connection, Adrienne had this little comic strip comparing introverts to extroverts, and while it was tongue and cheek, there was a LOT of truth to it.

This weekend taught me that I NEED others to make me happy. I started thinking about my life now, compared to 4 years ago. The reason I am happy now has nothing to do with me, and everything to do with other people. I absolutely CHERISH my girlfriends and my fiancé. And if needing them makes me old fashioned, redneck, or ignorant, so be it. It is what it is.

But maybe it just means that I'm social? Maybe it means that my heart is so full that I want to share it with others. Maybe those relationships are what make me a better and fuller person. And moving on to what someone else said to me last week...

I talked to a teacher friend on the phone about everything that I was doing this summer and what she was doing. And she said, "Wow, your whole life revolves around running." The way she said it wasn't so nice, and I was a little hurt by it. I also tried to defend it, but couldn't really. It made me think, though.

And yes, my whole life DOES revolve around running. Those people that I cherish? Those girlfriends and that fiancé that I love? I met them through running. Those high school kids that make me laugh, yeah, I coach them... in running. My summer job? Running. My morning "high"... running.

So, yes, my life does revolve around running. ISN'T THAT AWESOME? I think that's what I should've said. I'll save it for next time. Hehe.