Strong, confident, and sweaty

Those are the words that I would use to describe my run tonight; it was awesome (and sweaty)!  I went back to JB (the hilly trail) tonight and ran the whole, hilly loop again, but this time without any rest stops.  When I ran Thursday night, I took a quick break at a water fountain right before the third, and steepest hill, because I forgot my water bottle.  I took another quick break before the last big hill, mainly because I thought it was a lot steeper and longer than it actually was and I felt like I needed to mentally prepare myself.  For the record, it wasn't nearly that bad.  Tonight, however, I was smart and brought my water bottle and sweat band, which helped me plug away up all of the hills without stopping.  It felt good to know that mentally and physically I had those hills.  They were mine.  Again, my pace wasn't fast, but I kept going and after making it up all 5 hills, I rewarded myself with a slight detour to a little sitting area overlooking the Mississippi.

A peaceful little overlook

I noticed there was a framed picture sitting on the bench to the left of the bench I was sitting on.  There was no one else around me, so I presumed someone had set it there earlier.  A couple approached the overlook on bike and as they went to look at the river, I heard the woman say something about the photo still being there.  The gentleman she was with said that the photo was there every year, so curiosity got the better of me and I walked over to see what it was.  It was a black and white wedding photo that I presume was from the 1950's or so.  It was a very sweet couple and a sweet gesture.  I'd love to know the back story behind the photo, but my guess is that this particular bench held special memories for this couple (I forgot to check the nameplate to see who the bench was in honor of) and that one of them is deceased and the surviving spouse (or children, I suppose if they have both passed away) puts the photo there every year.

After my brief rest at the overlook, I decided to run back to my car at a faster speed since my legs had recovered a bit from the hills.  The remaining path to my car was relatively flat, so that helped considerably.  I wanted to run a full three miles, so I ran past my car a bit until I reached three.  The last mile felt really good and overall, it was a great, powerful run, which I needed!

Wishing all of the mother's I know a very happy Mother's Day tomorrow, especially my Momma, who just got back from a business trip tonight (she was missed a lot this week)!  I love you, Mom, and want to thank you for always being there for me, listening, offering advice, or just giving me a big hug when I need it!  Happy Mother's Day!  

"Mothers hold their child's hand for a moment and their heart for a lifetime."