Thursday, May 21, 2009

Sharing the Mission

Dori continues to feel better, but her cough remains. I'm battling something, too, now ... raw breathing, headaches and less energy ... but nothing like whatever I had in February. Still, it's the crums.

Tuesday night, I ran six miles to and from a Leukemia & Lymphoma Society meeting to sign up Team in Training members. It was a wonderful night for running, warm but dry. On the way to the meeting, I stopped to catch up with our friend Chuck Hargrove, who was running down Belmont Boulevard, one of the city's best streets for a run.

At the start of the LLS meeting, a young lady I immediately recognized walked into the room. Elaine! One of Dori's great nurses at Vanderbilt on 11 North. Elaine had a special affinity to Chuck Hendry, Dori's good friend on 11 North, AML survivor and recent half marathoner. Elaine, who stays in touch with Chuck, is planning to fund-raise and run the Marine Corps race this fall. Good luck, good friend. Speaking of Chuck Hendry, it was nice to get a call from him this week. He's hung up his running shoes for the moment and is focusing on other things.

I attended the meeting to share a "Mission Moment" to connect the runners to their task. I told my family's story, including the long summer at VUMC, Dori's difficult transplant, my reason for fund-raising and the great ending at last year's Nike, when Dori ran the last three miles with me.

I would have run today, except for the cold. It would have been nice to get to 28 or 29 miles today, then run 11-plus on Saturday morning for a 40-mile week. But the body says no, and we'll see where this goes. Hopefully, I'll ride the bench for a quarter, not a half.

1 comment:

Ronni Gordon said...

It's good to pay attention to your body, however frustrating.