· Weather today: 28 Celsius (82.4 Fahrenheit) Humidity 51% (at it's highest)
· Today’s run distance: 23.84 km (14.81 miles)
· Run distance to day: 3274.44km (2039.21 miles)
· Song of the Day: Today I got to chat with Adam again
· Song of the Day: Today I got to chat with Adam again
Today started off a little crazy. It was a late night last night for Mandy and I as we got to spend time with Anne and her family. Anne's dad had a small wristlet / man purse / money pouch / satchel.
I am looking forward to getting one of my own and establishing this as a trend for runners to carry their stuff in.
This morning was a little hard to get up but Mandy and Melissa would not tolerate my cry for "just 10 more minutes".
Today was Mandy and I in the CRV as Melissa had to take the motorhome in to get the "Run to Remember" decals put on it. So Mandy and I drove off to yesterday's run stop and got everything going for today's run.
I ran for about 30 minutes and we were met by Adam who wanted to continue running with me today. He is an "old timer" when it comes to brain injury and has had his injury for about 20 years ago. His cognitive challenges are similar to mine, yet again very unique and specific to him. He also recently got his MBA. This is quite amazing considering like me he had to do the "High Needs Part Time" student loans.
This is what I faced when going back to school. It takes me 8 years of part time school, and not being able to work during this time. This is a huge amount of student loan debt and without being able to work, and…well…you can fill in the rest.
After Adam ran with me for a bit we continued on. It was a little cooler today, but still quite humid. At one point a car pulled over in front of us and it was Rita who is Anne's aunt.
I continued on-wards and another car pulled over and it was someone from Bradford who was organizing a meet and greet with the Mayor. He wanted to find out what time we would be running into Bradford.
We continued on and I enjoyed about 12kl or so of just straight running. When we got to Bradford and met with Mayor Doug White, his wife Jeanene, and their daughters Jamie and Jaclyn. He provided me with a Certificate of Achievement on the Run to Remember. I also met Steve Lowden who is the Vice President of the Board of Trade for Bradford.
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| The girls all have the Run to Remember whistles!! Sorry Mayor ;') |
I then had a great discussion with two reports, Sean from the Bradford Topic and Miriam from the Bradford Times. They were just great and very curious about brain injury and specifically mine. So I informed them of my history and my injury. They asked a lot about the challenges of everyday life and how I do things like the run. I talked about the challenges but also the importance keeping a positive outlook. It's very easy to fall into a world of depression and feel sorry for myself. That is a slippery slope and is just a challenge on a daily bases. What keeps me going is the idea that this run and raising awareness gets people aware of the fragility of their brain and how quick their lives can turn around. The other part of this is for those people who have suffered a TBI, an ABI or any other extreme medical issue. We are not defined by our disability. It is what we do with it.
Should I let it take over my life and play victim? Should I just be the guy with a brain injury? Or should I push the limits of what is expected, challenge the preconceived thoughts, and push beyond even my own boundaries. If I can do this, what else can I do, what can others do?
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