Best Run of My Life!

Finally - the best blog post ever about the best run on the best day of my life. Okay, enough of trying to make you gag. Just know that this will do all my thoughts and feelings little justice, but I will try!

So about a week-and-a-half ago (July 29 to be exact), Ryan and I set out for a nice, early morning 5 miles around his neighborhood. We went to a park near his house and decided to run a few loops there to start. We noticed a new path/walkway leading up to the amphitheater there/big field in front of it and decided to stop on the second loop to check it out (any excuse to stop is always welcomed in my book).  While we were standing there, Ryan made a comment about his headphones not working right. He unplugged them and started pulling them out from under his shirt and there was a ring looped around the cord. You can imagine my surprise...or maybe you can't. I WAS SURPRISED. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him and of course, I said YES!

Needless to say, we did not finish the run (which has been subsequent runs a little challenging...what? no stopping to give me a present?). After taking a few minutes to enjoy the moment/take it all in, we headed back to Ryan's parents' house and when we walked up, I saw my parents' car in the driveway and immediately started crying...again. A nice little RunKeeper shout out - they were all tracking us so they could see when we were heading back. Anyway, I couldn't have been happier to have them there to be part of the celebration. Ryan's brother, Sean, and his girlfriend, Sarah, were in town from California and I was so happy to have them be part of the moment too. Champagne for everyone!

The entire day was an amazing whirlwind. This summer has treated me incredibly well and I've thought a lot about how great it would be if we could "bottle up" good feelings and memories so we never lose their strength or clarity. I've never wanted it more than in that moment, yet I quickly realized that we are blessed to have a lifetime of those moments ahead us. The love, support, cards, and kind words we have been showered with from our friends and family in these past weeks has been incredible and I feel lucky to be surrounded by so many wonderful people, both in body and spirit (since they live far away, not because I'm friends with ghosts...uhh). 

One of my most favorite running/life quotes is from Kara Goucher: That's the thing about running: your greatest runs are rarely measured by racing success. They are moments in time when running allows you to see how wonderful life is. More and more, I've seen, or rather, felt, the truth in this. Sometimes, the good is so good and it's hard to conceive how you got that lucky. I've thought a lot this summer about the feeling you used to get jumping off the high-dive as a kid - that incredible rush and release, the feeling of being on-top-of-the-world and screaming your head off and laughing afterwards at just how crazy wonderful it was....and that's how I feel. Running is the big-kid form of the high-dive high. Oftentimes, running is seen as stress manager, but it can also be a break from the day-to-day routine to take time to appreciate the good in your life and reflect. If running is my high-dive high, then I anticipate there will be a lot of it in this next year...and in all the years of our life together :O).