Little Bursts

My run this morning was not going as well as I wanted it to. I've gotten up to 4 mile runs in the past week; I thought I might make it 5 today, but then my running partner chickened out turned around and headed home, so I changed my plan and kept it at 3 miles. Even then I felt like I was trudging. The downhills were hard on my lower legs, and the uphills - well those actually went ok.
At one point after tying my jacket around my waist, I started running again, and a bicyclist on the other side of the 4 lane road, shouted to me, "You can do it!"
What a boost that was! What a way to make me feel better and actually smile as I run! I had a little burst of energy after that.
A few months ago, when I was running another trudging-kind of run, another man drove by and yelled out the window, "Go lady go!" which startled me at first. And then I saw who it was - that very sweet husband of mine, and that made me smile, and keep going. I was thinking of just turning into home, but that encouragement kept me going and helped me finish my run strong.
So maybe if you see a runner in orange going down the street, yell at her, nicely, and help her break through that mental wall.