What a day it was in Green Bay on Friday...
We couldn’t have asked for a better day: Perfect temperature, not too humid, lovely run along the lake, and great energy and enthusiasm from everyone! Media came out to cover our efforts, which is always a blessing. The entire school of Wisconsin International came out! I ran about two and a half miles with them.
This was a day that I needed for me. I feel thankful, blessed and loved in this world again!
The compassion that I have for myself has grown through this process. It seems like the more open I am to accepting my own pain and suffering the easier I can deal with it. I've learned to say my feet hurt, but somewhere else in the world someone's feet hurt more. I've learned to say I'm feeling upset, but someone else may be losing a loved one to hunger, AIDS, or another tragedy. The more I accept my pain, the more I can relate to others, and the more I learn from my beautiful life that's a shared work in progress.
uch incredibly positive energy! I had a substantial break through with a faster walking and running pace; we smoked the last 10 miles and clocked a 7:40 mile 48. My feet are feeling better and my emotions are in great form!
It’s day 27 and it’s been quiet today. As requested, people have given me some space for the past couple of days allowing me to breathe and get out of my despair on my own. Today’s a new day and I’ve come back from the darkest dark that I’ve ever experienced in my life. I never gave up the faith and hope, but at times like these you can’t help but question it.
I’ve run marathon after ultra marathon, like the Badwater Double and the Marathon des Sables, but nothing has been as challenging as this. What makes it worthwhile is remembering all the people that can benefit from this – just a little bit of sacrifice on my part and others will have food in their bellies and options for life. It’s a small price to pay.
It’s been an emotional rollercoaster so far, and I don’t doubt that it will get any easier – although one does hope. One minute you feel like a peaceful warrior moving through space and as soon as you start feeling great about it all, you get smacked down to the ground again.
Thank God for Sister Mary. If she prays for my feet with Holy water, my feet are going to feel better! So, I have to keep my faith with her around; we agreed that I am allowed to ask questions if I want, they’ll always be answered!
Why are the wisest people around me right now children? I get the most inspirational, real, heartfelt and connected words from children. Two little sisters showed up with a sign in Kentucky the other day, saying something like, “Go Lisa!” Everyone knows that that day was a very challenging day for me. I was feeling horrible, things weren’t going well and I was on the brink of a breakdown. I thought, God, if you really want me to do this you have to pull me out of the darkness some way, some how.
A little while later the six year old came over to me while I was crying off in a corner somewhere. She said, “What’s wrong?”
Of course normally I wouldn’t show my emotions, especially to a six year old. But I responded with a question, “What do you do when you feel so down and out that you feel like you just can’t keep going?” She answered back, “Well, you made a commitment to help the kids, right?” “Yes” I said. To which she responded, “Then, I think you’ll be a little tired, but I know you can do it.”
I went up to the girl later and told her, “You have no idea how much you inspired me today… Thank you!”
Moving out of despair is not always easy. Our minds can become clouded, our bodies fatigued, our emotions will say NO to every offer of help. But, after the other day I’ve made a commitment to myself to be open to receiving help and advice, especially from children!
One word, good or bad, can change the path of your moment, week, month, year or life. Don’t ever assume that your words don’t mean anything. The smallest ripple in the sea can create a title wave. Greet people with a hug, a smile, say I love you, inspire them to have a better moment somehow.
When people feel inspired, their tru
e gifts shine through. Those gifts can benefit millions. So never assume that anything you do is small and insignificant. Sometimes we need reminding of how amazing we are. You can remind me, and I will remind you...
Then we can take our gifts and spread them as a force of good across the planet to heal and help wherever necessary!
I’m doing my thing. Are you doing your gift? Do you even know what it is? Please find out and, as one of my sponsors says… Just do it!
With Love,
Lisa
Today we’re in the 24th location, Memphis Tennessee, on the journey of Running Hope Through America. We’re at the largest urban park development in the US, Agri-Center International. It took 14 states to get into a rhythm and by the 20th state, in Louisiana, I thought I was in great shape. All my aches and pains went away, and it was a significant milestone that my family, team and I celebrated. I guess I was wrong…
Over the weekend I got hit with fatigue, pain – both emotional and physical. Now I have to dig deep into the well of my personal process that I thought had dried up a while ago, thinking I had everything figured out. So, I have to ask myself, “What else is there for me to learn?”
Sister Mary Beth says that this journey, for me, is like the last year of a nun’s novitiate. She says that it’s this year that tests you the most, and the year that shows how attached you are to your ego. “Ego? I don’t have any ego about this,” I said. But after thinking about it, I know she’s right…
People come out for a day, maybe they’re marathon runners that have done 20 or 30 miles, and they are so excited that they get to do their first 50-mile run with me.
My feet are killing me, the balls of my feet especially, my legs, and my hips. With people around I feel like I have to perform – I’m a professional athlete after all. If you’re up ahead of me, I have to keep up with you, if you’re behind me I need to stay behind. I want people beside me when if we’re running together. And, I don’t want them to see the pain that I’m feeling inside.
Someone said, “50 miles? How hard can it be?” People forget, this is not a 50-mile run, this is a 2500-mile run broken down into 50-mile segments. They also forget that I’m doing this almost every day. They get to go home, relax, watch a movie, be with their families and recover the next day. I miss my children a lot, and after a hard twelve-hour day of running when I need them most, I get to try and relax in a bumpy, uncomfortable RV without them.
So, because of all of this I need to be left alone… just for today. I know that I have to take this breath by breath, one foot in front of the other… just keep moving forward, with Love.
My friends from Trinity Cross, Brian and Coleen Rossi, came out to Dallas on Sunday. What a day that was! When he showed up in his wheelchair and reached out to put his arms around me for a hug he said, “I can feel your pain”. I said, “Brian, my legs hurt.” He said, “Mine do too.”
This 13 year-old kid has been through so much more than most adults, he really does understand. He says, “I don’t know why God chose me for this, but he did; and to do this Run, he chose you.”
So many children and people in the world are suffering, and they do it with dignity and grace. I feel like I’m not doing that well today, or yesterday. I’m not suffering with grace, I feel tortured. But, Sister Mary Beth is the divine force behind our effort. She’s amazing, and I’m so lucky to have her by my side. I truly don’t know what I would do if she wasn’t here.
Our goal is a great one, $1,000,000 to save lives, feed children and make their lives better! I am most certainly grateful that people show up to run, it makes our effort come alive! But, PLEASE lovely supporters… remember this is a fundraiser! If you show up, please give something for the cause.
And… for the record: I never realized it was going to be this hard.
My orthopedist says that I can’t run today, or tomorrow… so I’m walking and jogging a little.
Thank you to all the people that support RHTA, please come and joint the race one day in your city if you can. Give what you can and show your support, help us to achieve a goal that will change the lives of thousands.
Love,
Lisa
Sleeping under a bridge usually does not
have good conotations with it! But Lisa and her crew had a great night under the bridge in
N.Little Rock, Arkansas, near the stadium! We were able to park adjacent to the riverboat, Arkansas Queen. The running trail is beautiful and follows the river for miles with the availability of taking a bridge to downtown.
Thanks to Patrick, Sr.MB was able to attend the noon Mass at the Cathedral and see how life is here in downtown Little Rock.
Lisa has a few more miles and we will be on our way to Tulsa, Oklahoma!
Thanks for all of your help and support. Please ask your friends and relatives to go to
www.runhope.com to see how they might help the children.
May 13th was used as a day to get all in order...even the rv...an awesome taks in 90+ weather and humidity in Louisiana...arrived late that night in North Little Rock, Arkansas on the Arkansas River. Thank you to all the sponsors that have given us all the shoes, shirts, socks, salt, monetary support,etc. to keep the run going...God bless you all.
M here again with this update:
