For my grandma

A race report is coming, I promise. But I needed to do the important one first. 

You see this is my grandma. She is the grandma that a large majority of my childhood memories center around. She had an amazing backyard and I can still hear her calling my cousins and me inside for dinner... (Or, let's be honest, yelling at us to stop whatever naughty situation we'd gotten ourselves into!) She made her own bread and when we moved away it was one of my favorite Christmas presents to get in the mail.  

Early last December we found out she had a tumor in her lung.  The doctors felt they could successfully remove it. So as they prepared her for surgery the night before at the hospital, I made my way up to see her. Something told me I needed to. 

I brought the kids with me, and my grandma and my aunt enjoyed them playing around and entertaining them. 

At this point my running had taken a blow. I'd developed tendentious and between that and the horrible winter weather and air, I'd almost given up. 

My aunt asked me that night how my running was going. I laughed it off and said, well it was going... My grandma looked at me and said, "you keep it up!"

Sadly, my sweet grandma never recovered from surgery...

You keep it up.... Just four words, but those four words have carried me many miles. When there was times I just knew I couldn't go one more foot step, or days that my want to run was null, those four words have made me never stop. 

I've thought of her often while running and today during my first half marathon I know she was right there with me. 

❤