Sunday, June 1, 2014

My Shirts

The people who know me best will tell you I love swag, especially in the form of shirts and medals.  It was part of what attracted me to running races.  Unlike my children and my brothers, I never received a trophy when I was young.  They are my trophies.

I recently read this article in Runner's World (April 2014).  The first part made me sad that the author did not still have the shirt from her first race but this is the part that I think about often:
"I kept them all.  As unflattering as most of them are, each shirt is a testament to something: struggle, disappointment, triumph.  Each one tells a story.  Medals attract strange looks when worn around town, but race shirts are acceptable public statements of private accomplishments.  And on tough days I can slip one on and remember I can do hard things."

For that reason I will keep every shirt, no matter if I like them or not.  And when I wear them I am reminded I can do hard things.

And when I showed Jody a shirt a few weeks ago on the One More Mile Apparel website and she encouraged me to buy it, I did.  And I love it!