The Start of Something Good...

I get inspired easily—a bit of Alison Krauss music on my iPod, a Piet Mondrian painting at the Guggenheim, a modern dance piece on So You Think You Can Dance—and that’s it! I’ve discovered my life’s true calling. I take up singing, buy blank canvases, and browse Capezio for cute dance shoes.

But more often than not, with these big ideas, comes poor follow-through. The excitement fades, the planning stops, and I return to my norm (whatever that is) and declare to resume these various fantasies when I have more time.

At the inception of The Australia Plan (or lack thereof), I wondered if this too was going to be one of those things I wanted so desperately to do but just couldn’t fit together with my life. But for some reason or another, it wasn’t. And somehow, I’m here.

It was Allison who first inspired me to run a race, when she completed the CIBC Run for the Cure in Montreal in freshman year. A family friend, Dawn, had recently lost a fierce battle with breast cancer, and I thought it would be nice to inscribe her name on my number tag for the race. But my economics course was intent on kicking my butt—or at least that was the excuse I came up with at the time—and I said I would surely make time the following year. (I didn’t.)

Living here, in Australia, I have no norm to return to, no time constraints to consider, no excuses to place in my way.

So, when I found out the local Lululemon was starting a beginner run group to train for the 8k Mother's Day Classic in May, I was there that first Saturday morning at 9am. And when the tram cars were re-routed last weekend to attend to the Australian Grand Prix, and I had to walk the four kilometers to and from training, I hauled my tired butt up Fitzroy Street (and saw F1 driver Lewis Hamilton on the way!).

Although I have to fight a battery of excuses that cloud my head when I wake each Saturday morning (I could skip this week, just once… I didn’t get enough sleep last night, I shouldn’t over exert myself…), I look forward to seeing familiar faces, to jogging with a group of chatty girls almost entirely clad in Lulu gear (I’m a bit of a sore thumb with my Target tank top and Adidas track shorts, but what can you do…).

And on May 9^th, at six in the morning (gasp! that's early.) I will follow through. I will finally run a race for breast cancer research and for myself, in memory of Dawn.

UPDATE
After chatting with my mum this morning, I learned that another family friend, Alison, has just been released from the hospital after a double. mastectomy. These next few months are bound to be both physically and emotionally turbulent, but the doctors were able to remove all of the cancer, which is wonderful news. My thoughts are with her and her family, and I hope she makes a speedy recovery!