Saturday Mix-Up: Men, Rowing, 3 Black women

Mix-up Saturday.  I wanted to run a different route and let my Olympic inspiration of  (squared)  and Michelle Carter take me to new pavements. Since they are breaking barriers I wanted to break a barrier.

I decided to run where the runners run...The Esplanade on the Charles River. This path runs parallel to Storrow Drive and the Charles River. It doesn't matter the time of day, you always see runners, walkers, bikers, etc.. This was my barrier breaker this morning.

I drove over to the other side of the River (Cambridge) and parked at MIT. Then I ran. I crossed Memorial Bridge and ran down to the Charles

So thankful for the 70 degree weather. Such a different weather pace from the last two days of 90 degree weather.

This is where the runners are. At 6am on a Saturday. I saw men and women running by themselves, with dogs, with kids. Completely new scene and new views for me.

I realized there are many men that run with other men. There were several men pairings. Older, younger....running together. As I thought about it, that is something I don't see often. When I run, it's by myself and there are no running pairings of any sort.

I see women running together, I see groups of runners (mixed sexes), I see people running on their own but never men running together. hmmm?

I saw over 50 people on my 7 mile run. Only 3 black women.  Again, in this running city, why? As I think about the Olympics and those few folks of color in predominantly "white" sports and spaces, I can understand their journey.  That aside,  one of the women older and on her bike. The other was a tall, muscular woman running with her running head gear. The third was another older black woman who was pleasantly round and running. She was with 2 other women running.

The good thing, all three saw me, all three saw my Black Girls Run headband, and all three smiled and acknowledge me.

What more could I have asked for and that made my morning.

Running alongside the river, I notice that there are a lot of rowers. There are a couple of boat/rowing houses that are owned by Boston University, MIT, and the city of Boston. The water was busy with people.

I had a thought....Why not be a rower? Why not continue the black girl magic and work on and train to be a rower for the 2020 Olympics?  I'm feeling it.

I guess I should try rowing first before I make my Olympic Plans. :)