adding fuel to the good fire

Serendipity? Luck? Perfect timing? Meant to be?

All of the above and then some.

In 2009 a girl LeeAnne (whom I’d just met once when I lived in Wilmington, North Carolina) sent me an email one day out of nowhere:

Hi Diane,
I saw that one of my friends from high school is living in New York City now and has a pretty interesting job.  She does running tours of the city.  Basically its much like a running group, except they also give tours of the city while running different paths/distances/etc.  I know you are a runner and this might be an interesting way to generate some income in the busy tourist months here by taking a unique approach to tour-giving! Here’s the link to their website so you can check it out: www.cityrunningtours.com
LeeAnn

Of course I checked out the site and thought City Running Tours looked awesome, but at the time Wilmington wasn’t one of their tour cities to be a guide so I just sent them a “Hello- you are awesome!” email, and have followed the company ever since. When I lived in Napa I thought I might end up living in San Fran and be a guide, after that I was hell-bent on moving NYC so I imagined I’d guide tours around The Big Apple. Well here I am currently living in Chicago a year via Virginia. (You following with a map? Good. Welcome to the life of a traveler.) The point is to illustrate how far and long I have followed this company, and that I’ve kept up with my running habits.

Several months back in 2011 I sent City Running Tours a second email: “You should hire me to be a guide because I am a runner, I can talk to a brick wall and I am awesome, and I think you are too.” We finally connected this week and Chicago Manager Marlin invited me to meet up and join in a run this morning. I happily accepted.

Let’s just say this was one of the best, most energizing, inspirational mornings I’ve had in a very, very long time.

Just like LeeAnne’s email to above said, City Running Tours is much like a running group, except they also give tours of the city while you run. Well, today was so much more than a tour and daily get my miles in. A group of Fantastic fun runners gathered at The Bean at Millennium Park bright and early to meet guide Marlin. Even though I have now only spent a few hours with him- Marlin could possibly be one of the coolest, most humble, interesting, I can’t wait to learn more about and hopefully work with- people. Check out this video!

I googled Marlin as soon as I got home after hearing some of his stories today, I had to. This video was shot and posted in 2007. Get your copy of Marlin’s book Our Life on the Run, HERE.  I know what I’ll be reading this week! A fellow 50 stater. Yeah!

I have a feeling there will be many more stories in the future about Marlin and City Running Tours.

If you’ve followed here regularly you know I’ve posted less frequently than usual the past few months. This is because I have been working my tail off on a big transition for BLR and a huge event, as well as going through one of those times in life that have been exhausting and less than inspiring. As I plug away slinging burgers and beers to pay debt I was left with a few years back, I keep my heart and soul here figuring out ways to keep this entity of BLR trekking.

The past few months have been the hardest, but best and much needed months. Admittedly even with this needed- nose to the grindstone/good for the long term time, there have been a few days I’ve thought- That’s it! I am giving up my dreams! I’m just going to go work in a cube so I can rest easy at the end of the week and have a few extra bucks in my pocket!- Then? Somehow (my Mother would tell you it’s that stubborn sass) thankfully I shake that crazy talk in my head. Who else am I trying to be anyway? I’m not meant for the cube. It always happens that right when you are at the end of that rope, if you push with everything you have to keep going you always meet someone or happen upon something like I did today, that shows you giving up dreams is not an option. There is no “rest easy” in giving up what fuels every part of you. Not for me anyway.

What fuels your good fire?

Thank you to LeeAnn for taking 5 minutes 3 years ago to share information because you thought of me. Thank you to my super fun new running buddies from today Amy and Anne. Thank you to Marlin, for being one of “those” people. The ones you admire, learn a lot from and who make you want to do and be even more.

Here’s to following what gets you up out of bed excited at 6am on a cold Saturday morning!

***Very important side note to anyone out there who likes/loves/digs someone or something: Turns out if you call or write to that someone/thing that you genuinely dig, tell them you think they are awesome and the reasons why- you always get invited to the party. Seriously. My batting average is 100% so far. As you read above that’s how I even ended up on the run this morning. Even a behemoth company like Honda responds to to “I love you” messages. How did I ever get to talk to them and then have one of their cars loaned to me to do a road trip a few months ago? I stopped into a Honda dealer in Mechanicsville, VA last year- asked a service guy if he had a general  800 number for Honda corporate, called the number and asked to be patched through to someone in PR/marketing. I left a voicemail with my information adding “I love your cars, you should call me” (and they did.) The Secret is out! I have never shared that here before. Awesome right? I have lots more stories like these two. Don’t be afraid. Life is too short. Walk up to whatever/whomever  you totally dig and tell them you do and why. What have you got to lose? When you get invited to the party (because I promise you will)- write to me and tell me about it! Then I’ll share your story here 🙂