St. Joseph, MI ➡️ Kalamazoo, MI
Today was another pretty ordinary day with 4K (amazing as always, just pretty usual). We've had a couple of tough mornings recently with a little morning grumpiness throughout the team, but remembering the bigger picture helps us stay on track and helps raise morale throughout the day. I got to run with some awesome people today, Anna and Rob. Rob helped me push the pace in our last leg which was fun; it was definitely the fasted two-mile leg I've run on 4K. It has been fun sort of becoming a runner through this 4K process. I have pretty much always done some sort of running with the sole purpose of training for other sports, especially field hockey, with the mindset that the running I was doing would help me outwork an opponent for the ball, for example. Since I was no longer playing field hockey this past spring, I got more into running for fun and just for myself, but I also realized how much I actually don't know about training for running in particular. It has been fun getting to learn and adjust my training paces and goal paces, and having the freedom to go whatever pace feels good with 4K has been really helpful. It has been really fun getting to have slow, easy jogs with teammates while keeping up a conversation, and then having some runs like today where we can see what our bodies can do, but with no real pressure - just for fun. Such experiences also remind us how blessed we are to be healthy and have the ability to see what our bodies can do.
However, the running itself is definitely not the point of 4K, and we remind each other of that every day. We always talk about how it doesn't matter how we get to Boston - whether we're running, walking, or crawling - it's the bigger purpose that matters. Promoting awareness and support for cancer patients and survivors is the bigger picture, the overall purpose.
We also got some time rock climbing donated with Climb Kalamazoo, which added another fun activity to the day!