We had grand plans for a family bike ride on the trail. Tom used to take YaYa on the trail a lot. It was a special thing with them to ride the 6 miles to the next town, stop for pizza, and then ride back to the start. They would race (sort of) and YaYa would take pride in winning the race and then bragging on his blog.
It was a great plan that began falling apart early this morning. I don’t know why I was surprised that BoBo didn’t want to play. Typical for his teen age, family time (especially where cycling is concerned) is not high on his list. It certainly isn’t higher than hanging out with his friends.
When 1 pm arrived, DD and I gave in and made a few adjustments. While I drove BoBo to our old neighborhood, DD and YaYa went to the bike trail to do the ride together. Prior to use backing out of the driveway, BoBo gave YaYa instructions to kick DD’s tushie in the race.
After dropping BoBo off, I drove to the same trail for a run. I went out 4 miles and turned back towards the van. I figured that YaYa and DD would have passed me before I hit the starting point . They were nowhere around, however. I continued past the park and headed out in the opposite direction for 1 more mile. By the time I was finishing my final mile, they’d just finished eating.
So they got to the park ahead of me, rode a total of 12 miles on their bicycles, and ate in town. I ran 10 miles on foot and still beat them. Woo-hoo! Perhaps my running isn’t as bad as I thought. It certainly felt okay today.
Juls,
Good. Good that you got out there two days in a row, that you ran so far, that you didn’t get to have music and instead got the lovely image of Tom saying “I love you”. And good that you have those three boys supporting each other – even the teenager who finds the right words for his little brother even if he doesn’t want to join in.
I’m so happy that you finally started running again. You KNOW that is what Tom wants, even if it hurt to get started, and it didn’t seem fair. You know he’ll never truly be gone. Run with him.
I’m so glad that you are back to running and that it is going well.
Your last post made me a little teary eyed. What a perfect transition from ‘then’ to ‘now’.
Congratulations Julie! For getting out to run again and for whipping the boys!!!
Kudos to you for a great run.
It looks like you’re on your way back! Nice run!
Julie, So glad to see that you have returned to running. And very impressive times still I might add.
My heart has just ached reading your blog, that I have wanted to post, but didn’t know quite what to say.
Your writing really takes the reader to share such intimate thoughts with you. Please know that you and your boys are always in my thoughts and prayers. I’m sure you know it, but you will be o.k.
With your time away from running you’d still kick my butt. Great run!
nice work! i love it when i beat kids.
:)
Thanks for sharing this process, Juls. Hang on to the memories and at the same time keep moving forward. I admire your strength.
Yep, Jules…they are going to ignite your running! They are your support system. You go girl!!!