Common Grit

It's pretty cool how a bunch of people who are so different from each other can come together sharing a common bond in running through the woods and end up as friends.

Every week there is a different combination of these friends of mine.  And every week we share something either in fun, or in quiet, in laughter, in celebration, or with heavy hearts.  We have been through a lot together.  But not just because we run together...because we are sharing life together.  

Somehow, mysteriously, through the pouring out of sweat and effort and sometimes blood, we become knitted to each other.  It's the willingness to be exposed.  To be vulnerable, dependent and tough all at the same time.  

Some of us have been reunited with old friends on the trails.  Some of us continue to make new ones.  

Some of us lose friends and we mourn the loss together.

We never stop celebrating new adventures, new achievements, new faces.  

We love running and we love running in the woods.  Mohican never gets old.  We have bonded in our love for it there and for time together.  In the seriousness of training hard, and in not taking ourselves too seriously, it is a joy to know these people. 

As the seasons come and go, it is a privilege to watch the woods change from life to death and then back to life again along side others who watch it too.  

I am thankful that these people are willing to be inspired together, push each other, open up our hearts together, and share life along with sharing the trails.  The common grit isn't just the dirt in our shoes at the end of the run.  It is the hashing out of life together.  And our hearts beat a little faster because of it.