Respect the Run: Running for Sherry Arnold this morning

Happy Saturday  Lovies.   In the middle of all the exciting things I have to do today like, make valentines and pay bills I wanted to sit down and focus for a few moments on telling you about my run this am.

Several months ago the plan for this morning’s run was to compete in the Indianapolis 500 Mini marathon Festival training Series 5K.  I found out last week that our sitter was not going to be here and that my husband was going to choose to go see a band in Chicago for an overnight boys trip.  The training program canceled our regular Saturday morning run b/c we all should of been downtown in the 5K anyway.   In response to these events I made plans on Monday night with one of my group running buddies to meet and run together on Saturday at the usual time.  On Wed night re firmed those plans up. See you Saturday at 9am we both committed to each other on the way out Wednesday night.

I don’t know what kind of winter you are having where you live but in Indianapolis we have been having Spring in January and February. That is we WERE having spring in January and February until roughly yesterday.   Sure we seem to always be running in wind and ice and snow/sleet etc but honestly in spite of all of that temps have been quite mild.  As a seasoned Midwesterner i knew this had to come to a screeching end at any minute and when I checked the phone while still in my nice warm bed  at roughly 8am  this was confirmed.  16 degrees outside feels like 2!!!!!!  Ugh! I am tired, it is cold, my bed is warm and my children and still sleeping.   All I want to do is roll over and go back to sleep, even if it is alone minus the cat, for another few hours.   I start to ponder this idea in my head. I have committed to Not Kathy that I will meet her at the Y and run at exactly 9am.  I do not have her phone number and if I bail I will have to do it via email, possibly leaving her alone to work out.  This would be a serious put a $1 in the douchebag jar move and definitely would not fit in with my new mantra of respect the run.   It won’t respect my run if I lie in bed, it won’t respect my runner,  me or my running buddy.

Click below to learn more about Sherry and her story. The day isn’t over  Lovies, go run for Sherry!!!

Virtual Run for Sherry Arnold

Now i’m not going to lie here, that is pretty much a theme of my blog anyway, tell you way more truth than you ever bargained for.   I planned to run today for Sherry, I thought about it for several weeks , I knew last night my miles would be for her today.  But I didn’t remember that when I  force myself out of bed at least 15 minutes later than I should of.  Begin the frenetic dance of yelling, rushing and trying to  get everything ready and out  the door in time.   I manage to arrive at the Y with both kids in tow and there sitting waiting for me is Not Kathy, all ready to go.    If I had been more together I would of/should of printed out the bibs for both Not Kathy and I to wear. I should of told Not Kathy at the beginning of our run that we were doing it for Sherry and I should of been thankful and God/Sherry centered on every one of those steps, but I wasn’t.  I was just  another rushed Mom trying to get her run in and not let her running buddy down.

We started out  on the route  and the first thing I noticed is how my face was frozen before we hit the first cross walk.  How about we circle the park and come back , buddy suggests. Deal, I say, but we need to add  Farley/Turkel b/c we need the mileage.  Agreed.  We are set on our path.   Not Kathy is one of my pace mentors in the group. As In she is ever so slightly better than me and I push to keep up with her and another girl on our runs, by the end I have usually dropped back and they go on to finish a bit ahead of me.   between the 3 of us in that small group I am the elder woman, Not Kathy is in the middle and Cute Hat is the baby.   We represent 20,30 and 40 quite well.   Not Kathy tells me early that she is going to stay with me the whole time today and I tease her that she is getting as easy morning b/c she is with me and I am slower.

Except today…. I am not slower.   There is absolutely no reason for this.  But this am in the awful chilling cold and wind, in the loneliness of just the two of us on a route usually populated with 30+ other runners, I am setting the pace and we seem to be rocking it.  At first my runkeeper is being screwy and it tells us roughly half a mile in that we have already a mile in 6 minutes. I tell her what it is saying and we both get a laugh.   It helps that we don’t know each other well at all and so we are talking.  We talk about marriage and life and other things that women share.  I am running hard but I am not really feeling like I am running hard, I am just kind of doing it and  my body is rewarding me with the strength to just keep doing it.  As we round the large mile circle of park and start to approach the tree line of the turn it hits me.   SHERRY!    So I tell Not Kathy about Sherry and today and how she died. She went out for a run alone and never came back.  We talk about safety, confidence, being a woman.  How there are evil men and people in this world and that you have to be careful not to get too cocky or comfortable because… you just never know.   As we are completing the final half of that run I notice that the runkeeper seems to be adjusting itself and that it also seems we have something like a 10:12 pace.

I’ve thought about Sherry’s story a lot since it came to my attention. She seemed strong, confident, secure. She was what I would call a real athlete. A woman dedicated to the run.  A woman who absolutely respected the run.   A woman who may have even inspired others to run prior to  that horrible morning when evil men crossed her path and she did not prevail.  I went on a solo run on my usual around the country block route shortly after she came into my frame of reference. And I was scared shitless the entire time.  There are multiple registered sex offenders close enough to my house to drive by my solo run.  There are a thousand things that could go wrong. I am feisty but I bet Sherry was too. Sherry is considered dead and I am blessed to be alive.   I don’t even know her and I cried for her this morning.

I cannot stress to you how much I am NOT a 10:12 runner.  I am apparently becoming one, but swear to  6 lb 4 oz  little baby Jesus I am just NOT.  This morning though. I absolutely was.   Sherry, girl? Did you bless me with that kick ass badass  feisty pace this morning in spite of all that cold and wind?  I don’t want to discount my own hard work, my own newly renewed dedication to this sport and to my own health. I don’t want to discount the role Not Kathy played in keeping us on pace,  but I think maybe Sherry did play a part even in some small way to getting me to that 10:12.

So Sherry, I want you to know that I never knew you, but you have moved me. And for that, this morning I moved the earth for you today. Not nearly as astoundingly as you deserved girl, but know that your legacy will live on. I and countless others than never even met you  moved the earth for you today and in us your legacy will live on!  I hope you had a great run in  Heaven this morning girl. Rest in Peace!

Related articles

• Get up and run – for Sherry and yourself (georgeblogs.wordpress.com)
• Run for Sherry (autopilotlegs.com)
• Missing Montana Teacher Sherry Arnold: FBI Joins Search – ABC News (abcnews.go.com)