Running Free....

I can hear his voice as if it were yesterday....

It was my first epic fall...

And of course, I called my Daddy for encouragement...

Sympathy...Support....

What I got was...

“you run enough mountains , you are bound to fall down sometime...”.

I had scree rash up my back right leg... my butt... lower back... shoulder and arm...

And I was hurting....

Even better...

I finished the run...

Bleeding...

Stinky...

And exhausted..

Only to end up finding a sign at the bottom of the trail reading...

“caution.. BEAR IN AREA”.

I still get a bubble of laughter each time I think about that adventure...

The thrill...

My first summer chasing mountain trails...

My first summer of freedom...

Finding myself at the end of each exhausting adventure...

Learning to “run free”...

And again tonight, as I lay in my bed... pouting...

Those same words echo in my memory...

“You run enough mountains... you are bound to fall down sometime...”

And fall I did....

It was the classic kind...

A creative...

Crazy...

Once in a lifetime tumble...

A face plant....

Covering you from toe to neck in glorious mud...

With no one around to youtube...

Yet, the innocence and hilarity of it has long since past...

And I sit here... restless... longing...

After 3 weeks of treatment and one week of approved yoga...

A torn knee.... and a broken spirit...

There are moments I feel 100%....

And I’m dying to get back out there and strive for my carefully laid out goals...

And there are moments...

That lead into days...

That feel like today...

A sharpness...

And swelling...

A constant pain to remind me that I am not there yet...

And it’s in those moments that I struggle to remain focused...

Positive...

Cheerful...

It’s in those moments that I want to just let it break me down...

I want to succumb to the disappointment...

The pain...

To cry...

Yet,

They are only moments...

And along with the bad there are many good.... encouraging....

So I will re-focus my energies on healing...

I will remind myself that tomorrow will come...

And I will look to the freedom of that summer...

The summer I first learned what it was like to fall down...

I will shed the stresses of always improving for others eyes...

And I will once again learn what it means to...

“run free”

No One Runs Alone - NORA - Intro

I'll never forget the first day I met barefoot Jake....

He was This gypsy looking man....

The kind you'd walk by on the street and want to toss your change at....

His bare feet were leather tough...

And Dirty.....

He had nothing but the pack he carried, the clothing on his back.... and a smile.....

It was Fate really.....

He saw my little tent area and thought I looked innocent enough to leave his pack by...

The rest, as they say, is history....

We shared my little camping area... Jake using my tent as the desert got so cold at night....

Me not being kind enough to share the glory of my heated seats in the car...

A few cheers as we went around the dusty one mile loop.....

And months of emails....

Little jabs on Facebook....

And inspiration....

Jake lives his life as I could only dream...

Following his passion and inspiring others....

I am so excited to watch this new journey unfold....

His ability to touch peoples lives...

And make a difference in our world is a true gift....

I hope you will take the time to Follow "barefoot Jake" on this journey...

And all his other adventures....

Let him inspire you...

As much as he has already inspired the rest of us....



Twitter @jakeOruns

Accepting The challenge: letting go of the story.

54 months....

4.5 years......

1642 day’s.....

To some....

A lifetime....

To me...

A journey.....

Yes...

There have been a few short stumbles along the way.....

But I always found myself again....

Better...

Stronger....

Me....

The gift of taking the time to really find yourself...

Nothing clouding your judgment....

Learning what makes you the best you....

The best version of who you dream you could be....

Learning to love every little imperfection....

Oddity....

Unforgiving curve....

Every bad joke...

Embarrassing moment...

Embracing it all...

And learning to laugh at it...

Realizing all that matters in this life is you..

How well you lived...

The lives you touched...

And what you learned along the way....

Laughter....

Adventure....

Letting go of the past....

The fears...

The shadows....

The broken bannisters and bruises....

And embracing the reality of who you are....

Living with Laughter...

Joy....

Purity....

54 months....

4.5 years......

1642 day’s.....

A gift....

The greatest gift.....

The realization of life...

Gratitude....

Self-reliance...

Strength...

And beauty...

For all the heart aches...

The bumps...

The bruises...

The broken moments...

The shattered woman who I once was....

I am thankful....

Because who I am now...

Is far better....

Stronger...

Confident....

Loving....

Happy...

So much more then I ever imagined I would be....

54 months....

4.5 years...

1642 day’s...

The gift of time....

Time you can never take back from me....

#silencekills
#nomore
#Whiteribboncampaign 

White Mugs... and memories....

There is a certain magic found in the simple things....

Today it’s a white coffee mug....

Accented with a gold rim and a pink flamingo....

Stamped from the Bahamas....

And I am transported to a humid market....

Smells foreign yet comforting...

Excitement....

And energy....

Thick accented voices reaching out to me “Hey Lady....”

Cheap trinkets and souvenirs....

Lined in rows...

Each hopeful vendor vying for my precious few dollars....

The feel of the boat rocking gently in the port...

A bucket of beer’s on the deck...

The band playing reggae....

The heat of the sun...

The smell of the oil glistening on my body....

Adventure.....

The simplicity of this moment....

The stillness of my mind....

And I am Renewed....

Refreshed....

And content.....

And all it took was one silly white mug.....

Life........Derailed

Sometimes in life.....

You are forced to stop....

To take a moment...

To breath.....

It comes in many forms...

Loss of a job...

A break up....

The loss of a friendship.....

Or In my case the un-expected.....

A bum knee....

All of the above are never planned for.....

And at times....

Poorly timed....

Life is going good...

Training...

A relationship...

The job....

All seems to fit...

And bammm!

There you are sitting on the sidelines....

Not sure which way is up...

And which is down....
It just is....

Life...

Derailed....

Lisa on the run: Adventure...

Lisa on the run: Adventure...:  There is frost on my car windows... A chill in the air.... It’s hard to imagine that just yesterday I was w...

Adventure...

 There is frost on my car windows...

A chill in the air....

It’s hard to imagine that just yesterday I was waking up to sunshine...

Mountains....

Flip-flops....

And the company of a good friend....

That’s the beauty of a running trip....

It’s a magical adventure that can carry you a thousand miles away...

To a place close enough,

Yet so foreign....

Its shared laughter....

Victories...

And failures....

Bumps...

Bruises...

Tight It Bands....

Warm hugs...

Epic aid stations....

And finish line stories....

Unkempt Bands...

And wood fired pizza...

hypothermia...

And new connections...

It’s a world that removes you from the mundane...

The stressed of every day and puts you in that magical moment where, if you could, you would exist forever....

It’s the jokes and stories from hours in a car....

The sights...

The food....

A bowl of soul....

And warm cheesecake....

The smell of funky shoes....

Wet Gear....

And Post run beers....

Hours of Playlists....

And laughter...

As I sit here this morning prompting myself to prepare for my daily life...

I cannot help but sink back into that feeling for just a moment....

The joy of an adventure well done....

And the anticipation of preparing for the next one....

(Rainshadow Running Gorge falls Ultra March 29 2014)