Thank you, pain. #TheRunningWriter

I’m feeling a couple different kinds of pain today. Physical because of the 21-mile race I participated in this past Saturday. My legs and calves are particularly sore, so whenever I get up I look kind of funny the first few steps.

But it’s a good pain. I did something fun and challenging, and I made some life-long memories doing it.

The second kind of pain I’m feeling today is sadness. My dear friend, for whom I ran Saturday’s race, is rapidly losing her battle against cancer. My heart hurts even more than my sore leg muscles. I want to cry, scream in anger, and curl up into a ball at the thought of losing another person I know to cancer.

The pain reminds me to cherish every single day I have with my loved ones.

So while the pain is painful, it’s also a reminder to live life to the fullest and love your friends and family like there’s no tomorrow.