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July 07, 2005
Fast Dash in a Mental Fog of Sadness
Like some others have mentioned, I feel the urge to say something about what happened this morning in London. My heart cries for the people who have lost loved ones or have suffered injury in this morning's bombings. I was shocked when B. woke me up and turned my attention to the news. My initial thoughts rushed to my twin sister. She left this afternoon and headed to the Netherlands to meet up with a friend - from there they will hop on a plane to Tanzania. However, her friend was due to arrive in London this morning before catching a flight to Amsterdam. I met my sister for coffee before she headed out of the country - we have yet to hear from her friend. My heart is with her as she crosses the ocean this evening . . . I am confident that she will be okay (she may even be safer in Africa than many of us are in the USA), but I still worry.
I was living in Boston when I watched the Twin Towers collapse on TV. I lost my Aunt on the plane that hit the Pentagon. I will never understand the need for such violence and emotional bankruptcy. I cannot comprehend why terrorist groups kill innocent people. At the same time, I cannot understand why the US has killed thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians. I cannot understand why we continue to build nuclear weapons and why North Korea and Iran might actually use them some day. My war feelings and political sentiments aside, all I can do right now is hope for peace.
I had a hard time motivating myself to run today . . . I felt a little empty and my mind was loud and chaotic. B. finally encouraged me to run and I unleashed my anger on the treadmill. I did not run long - just 5.5 miles, but I started at a 7 minute pace and finished at a 6:25 pace. It felt quite cathartic, but I had a mother of a stomach ache because I had just eaten dinner! At any rate, I was glad that I ran. I am hoping to toss in another 10 miles tomorrow.
As an aside: I called in sick to work today because my dog, Mr. Ajax, is under the weather with kennel cough. I am amazed at my capacity of endless love for this little guy. He routinely follows me everywhere. It was really cute - when I was running on the treadmill tonight, Ajax decided to run back and forth, and when I was finally done, he crept onto the treadmill and just stood there. I don't know what I would do without him. If I knew how to post pictures, I would post one of him. He is such a proud and happy creature.
Posted by bridget at July 7, 2005 11:08 PM
Comments
You do have the capability to post pictures, but it's more complicated than it should be. If you want to e-mail me pictures, I will upload them for you and then give you the code you need to paste in so they'll be included in the entry. Mr. Ajax sounds really cute!
Thanks for what you wrote about the terrorist attacks in London. I haven't written anything on my blog and I probably won't, simply because I don't have anything to add to what has already been said. However, if I did say something, it would be along the lines of exactly what you said!
That's a smokin' pace you're running! I hope you have some races coming up, because it sounds like you're in great shape.
Posted by: Alison at July 8, 2005 09:36 AM
I also want to thank you for what you posted about the attacks in London, I couldn't say it better. I am so sorry to hear that you lost your aunt as well...
I agree that all we can do is hope for peace and maybe try to make the world a better place by being good people.
Have a good weekend! I am really impressed by your speed as well.
Posted by: Barb at July 8, 2005 12:20 PM
hey bridget. i hope you find some solace (in either running, with B., or otherwise) in what i am sure is a really hard time for you. i am so sorry about your aunt.
and yes, to second alison's comment, you do run fast :)
feel better,
audrey
Posted by: Audrey at July 8, 2005 02:57 PM