Gosh I got off track there, back to the run.
Brandon couldn't do the run with us today because he was working so Bashlyn and I did the run together. I got to Garden of the Gods early to hopefully find parking for Brandons huge truck. I was able to park in the oversized vehicles parking, pretty sure its intended for buses, but I parked there anyway. The entrance of the park was so crowded with people so Bash and I walked for a half mile before it started to thin out enough for me to be able to run. I ran out to the road and started up my first hill. An older gentleman was running down the hill and he goes "wow now THATS impressive!" haha it gave me a little boost of confidence just when I was thinking to myself "what have I gotten myself into".
Now that I'm recovering from the run I am actually glad that it was harder than I had anticipated. Every time I wanted to stop or I thought how much my legs were hurting, I thought of the reason for the run. Fallen and injured linemen was the reason I was running. I thought about the linemen that lose arms and legs causing them to go through months of physical therapy to learn how to walk again with prosthetics. I thought about the linemen that get sent to the burn wards with most of their body burnt, never to have the same skin again, gosh the pain they must go through. I thought about the families that lose their linemen, the Mommas that have to explain to their children that Daddy isn't coming home, the wives that have to learn how to live without their love. A pain I cannot even imagine and pray nightly I never have to go through. I thought about all the pain these families go through way too often in this trade and suddenly the pain I was experiencing was so minimal, it almost made me feel silly.
The views were breathtaking, every time I got to the top of a hill I could see another beautiful view and best of all, I had a downhill run for a bit. There were people mountain climbing throughout the park, several other runners and a few people on road bikes. It was really cool to be surrounded by such athleticism. It reminded me a lot of my favorite weekend in Cda, Ironman. I really wish Brandon could have been there with us to experience it.
Bashlyn and I finished the run and made our way back to the truck. When I got there I was sandwiched into my parking space by two Subareas. I had to do a little Austin Powers 100 point turn to get out. Thankfully an older gentleman came up and helped me so I didn't have to keep getting out to see how close I was. He said "that truck is way too big for you" Yeah Yeah I know! All in all it was a wonderful run :)
Last night we were able to meet up with a lineman Brandon worked with when he first got into the apprenticeship at Sturgeon. He is working on the job Brandon is working on during the weekends and he has his wife, Amanda with him. It was so fun, we talked for 3 hours straight! Its alway so fun to meet other line families on the road but its even better when you are telling a story and they go "wow that is our EXACT story as well". I am super excited to have another friend in the Springs on the weekends, Tanisha and now Amanda! I'm seriously going to get so spoiled! Another cool thing, while we were waiting to be seated a guy started talking to us because he noticed the shirt Brandon was wearing. We were able to talk to him and his son for a good 20 minutes. He is a lineman for a utility in Pueblo and his son is just finishing line school in a month and getting ready to apply to the JATCs. Its just so neat getting to talk to people and relate to them all over the country! This is such an incredible brotherhood and I am so excited we get to be a part of it all. I could have never imagined we'd be blessed like this in our lives and I couldn't be happier!
