A Poem on Getting Through Ups and Downs

What I long for most in this crazy world

What I long for most in this crazy world

Is friends and family who are rock solid.

Relationships I can count on to be—

Straight, comfortable—like the NCR.

Predictable as heat on Key Highway’s

Blacktop on the MCVET 5K Sunday.

Sure to appear as the sun each morn.

Sure to remember as an elephant. 

Sure to share wisdom as a wise old owl.

Sure to listen as prey being hunted.

Sure to see like an eagle hunting prey.

Not that I long for predictable folk.

I like predictable relationships.

I don’t mind the rolling marathon hills

In each Baltimore Running Festival.

I pressed on through three uphills and plateaus

Before Heartbreak Hill when I ran Boston.

Life is always full of both highs and lows

And I do not want to hide from either.

And I don’t mind curveballs in life such as

Receiving a drink at a Haitian stand

One Sunday walking the farmers’ market.

Or finding the kitchen collective that

Makes pancakes—sort of a variation

On crepes that I get almost ev’ry week

With my training partner of seven years.

I roll with things that could disrupt my week.

But I choose living with those I count on

To remain solid through both ups and downs

In my life and in our combined lives too.

Looking Ahead

This is the last time I will be at a workout with Suzie #fornow.  Suzie has been in Baltimore for about two-and-one-half years.  I've known her through Back on My Feet and a friendship and mentorship that grew around running for about two of those.  We've been "Thursday running partners" (most, but not every Thursday) for about 19 months of that total.  She's about to hike the Appalachian Trail and then move back to the midwest closer to her family and where she grew up.  But I want to comment on how knowing her has been a blessing to me and why  hope to keep in touch with her.

The shirt I have on in this photo is a great  summary with its hashtag #NoOneRunsAlone.  There were several reasons that our running grew beyond just the Back on My Feet workouts.  One was her preparation for her first marathon in 2017.  I ran by her side all 26.2 miles and waited with other Back on My Feet volunteers for her to come out of the medic tent after the race was over.

Her marathon running has progressed immensely since that first one.  She qualified for Boston and two days ago she ran Boston.  I followed her splits that were solid in the beginning but slowed.  When I sent her a congratulatory text afterward, she noted that the end was a little slower than it needed to be as she had run into a college teammate who was struggling even more than she was.  She took what I had done for her and paid it forward making sure #NoOneRunsAlone.  She could not have made me prouder than she did by paying it forward.  

What she did for a fellow runner is what I hope everyone with whom I am in a mentoring relationship does--takes the lessons I have shared and carries them forward.  I know I try to do that on behalf of my mentors.  I learned long ago that I cannot pay them back. But I can pay it forward.  Just yesterday, the school of public health at which I began my career recognized a faculty member who spent 35 years there and 14 more interacting with the faculty there.  I noted how much of a mentor he'd been to me when I was junior faculty.  I can only hope I have paid it forward.

A person also realizes how much a running partnership and mentoring has become a friendship that impacts his life when the following happens.  Suzie brought her parents for her last Back on My Feet workout. When her mother was going around the circle meeting people, she heard my name and said, "You're the one who has helped Suzie with her running."  I'm not sure how much credit I deserve--Suzie can do quite well on her own--but it does point out just how deep running friendships can be and how much others know about them friendship and impact.

I want to thank Suzie for joining me on my journey and letting me be part of hers.  She has been a part of my "Baltimore family," and while neither knows how long it will be will we can be in the same photo again, I look forward to continuing to watch her journey and to lend a hand on her way if she ever needs it.   

Embrace the Mud

A warning given at the starting line--

“The turn-around point is flooded today.”

Given how much rain fell the day before,

It was easy to imagine puddles

Prevalent on the rail trail by the stream,

But it was hard to imagine a flood.

When our band of three and other runners

Reached the point where we’d finally turn back

We saw not a flood but copious mud

With no way to possibly get around.

At that point we had to make a judgement—

Whether to be cautious or run straight through.

I heard myself shout an invitation,

“Embrace the mud.” As much to myself as

Any of the other four runners there.

We ran directly to the orange cone,

Not caring how much of the mud we splashed.

Covering shoes and shins and shorts and shirts,

Then turning around to finish the race.

Splashing again till we were past the mud

Everyone noticing amounts of spots

That covered each runner as we went on.

But no one caring as we’d made it through

And could carry on with the task at hand.

As we continued on toward the finish line

Picking up the pace as we ran each mile,

I was pondering way back in my mind

How I’d approach the next issue in life

When there’s no easy way to get around.

Would I again shout to embrace the mud?

Or cautiously do my best to avoid?

I hope that my shout in the woods that day

Sets the tone for facing all challenges.