Last Saturday long run

Friday it was cold and I was tired. I listen to my body and didn't fight it. Plus it's good to have a day of rest and recharging. The last Saturday of the month I wanted to run with my Black Girls Run (BGR) sole sistas. One of our members organized a run at 8am this morning.

8 a.m.!!! OMG, so late, so late. It's not about me, it's about the group as a whole. To fix that. I got up early to run 4 miles and then I would run 4 miles with the ladies. I parked my car at the Franklin Park Golf  Course around 6:45am and ran from the park down Blue Hill Ave to Dudley Street and back .

Since it was so early, I noticed people out already in the mom and pop stores and folks waiting for the bus. There wasn't anyone running.  As an black running, running in a black neighborhood I get stares and also words and looks of encouragement.

It's disheartening that seeing a person running in this community is an oddity but it would not be if I was in Cambridge, Wellsley, or even the South End.

After my pre-run, the ladies showed up for our 8am run. I had forgotten the joys of running with a group and with someone. Everyone had a running buddy, mine was Coach G. We run 4 miles together. I just planned on doing one loop around the park, I did two.

Keeping up with Coach G I had a slower pace than normal but we had a great stride and pace. I do enjoy running with a partner. Who's going to get up at 5a.m. and run with me? One of the occupational hazards of being an early morning runner.

We even had a new member who post things on our page but this was the first time she came out. Ladies of different levels and abilities but we all ran.