Thanksgiving

As a child on the eve of Thanksgiving my brother and I would discuss the things we were grateful for; well, the things we could say at the dinner table.  And while they were true, we were thankful for our mother and father and for our pets and for our home and for freedom.  We were also thankful for school being out and that Christmas presents were merely weeks away, but those things were not really said at the table with family gathered.  As a teen and young adult I began to be a different type of thankful.  I wasn't thankful for my parents just because they loved me (which they did); I was thankful for them because of all they gave to me to make me who I was in my heart and in my soul. I was thankful for the approach of Christmas because it meant for a few weeks people would smile and be kind to each other and they would remember family and forget hardships.  As an adult I am thankful for so many things and I am thankful in ways that words do no justice.  I am thankful for my parents because they just "get it", "get me". I am thankful for my pets because they teach me to be better at forgiving.  I am thankful for Christmas because of all the wonderful memories I have of family and friends and joyful moments shared together.
Just as our lives change and we grow up, our views on thankfulness and Thanksgiving change and grow. That said where does Thanksgiving fit in to topics about running?  No, I am not going to tell you how many miles or hours you have to run to have a slice of pecan pie with no guilt (eat the pie).  I am not going to tell you which races are in your local area on Thanksgiving morning.  I am not going to tell you to be thankful for your ability to run.  All these things you already know.  So  I am not going to talk about another thing I am thankful for knowing about and having this Thanksgiving. 
While I have many things to be thankful for in my life, and many of those things and people I don't appreciate enough or say thank you to enough through out the year, I want to talk about one part of my life that for me changed this year.  It is sort of the running part, but it is actually bigger than the physcialness of the running (or biking, or swimming). I am thankful this year for having had experienced that moment when I truly felt a part of the running (athletic) community.  You have to understand when you realize you have become a part of this community you realize the full overwhelming level of support surrounding you and you realize you are the overwhelming support for others around you.

It does not matter if you run side by side in silence or if you run telling stories of the day.  What matters is no one out there is alone.  Even when you run alone, you are not really alone, because you know someone is thinking, "Wow, she got up and ran today.  I wonder how that went."  Or you are thinking, "I told so-and-so that I was going to run today, guess I better get up and go."  You are already engaging in your community without knowing it, supporting others just by thinking about them.  Beyond the training and racing I am thankful to be a part of this community because I am surrounded by people who understand with compassion.  They know I am not crazy to do this, no matter time of day, or distance traveled.  They know at any time I may be healing physically and mentally and emotionally.  They know running is not a motion I go through but a process of feeling alive, whole.  I am thankful to have people who know; they know without words. 

For me talking to others is difficult.  I am a sit and watch and learn type of person. The athletic community gave me the opportunity to be that person while engaging with others.  You can't talk and swim (not if you are really swimming), but you can watch and learn and slowly gain comfort with people just by being at the same place at the same time (5am at the pool, you get to know people).  This community also embraces everyone (seriously everyone, I didn't believe it at first either).  You can walk five steps or you can run a four minute mile and you still get to be a part of this community. Because you were not only there but because you are trying, giving effort to something.

We have been running since 2008.  We started triathlon in 2010. We
have been members of one local running club for about 4 years and another one for almost 2 years. We have been members of our local tri club for 2 years.  But it has been in this last year that I have finally felt as ease in this community and have finally felt like I belong here.  It is strange too because belonging had little to do with feeling accepted and more to do with being able to feel as though I could give back. Don't misunderstand it is not my giving that I am thankful for; it is the time, patience, support, nurturing, and guidance from others that I am thankful for today.
Much like my thankfulness of my parents, I went from being thankful for this athletic community because it simply existed and allowed me to participate, to being thankful for this community because they gave to me a piece of what makes me who I am as a person, to being thankful that this community and I "get each other" without explanation we just get it.
While I have a list of things to be thankful for, so long it would wrap the world in a hug, today I wanted to share how thankful I am for this journey within the athletic community.
Thank you to all of those who have been on this course with me.  Thank you for your wisdom.  Thank you for your patience.  Thank you for your laughter.  Thank you for all that you have given without knowing you gave at all.  Thank you for making me a better person.