An Open Letter in regards to road races

Dear Race Volunteers,
   Thank you, thank you, thank you, YOU are an integral aspect of any road race. You make the race, and I seriously couldn't run the races I run without you. I am thankful for your cheers, your water/poweraid that you hand out, I am thankful that you stand at street intersections controlling traffic so I don't have to watch for cars or worry about being hit. Thank your for your willingness to get out of bed ridiculously early so that I can run. Thank you for the ways in which you encourage and inspire me. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for the ways in which you faithfully show up race after race. Thank you for sitting at medial tents for those who need it. Thank you for your enthusiasm. You make a race amazing.
   Love, an appreciative runner

Dear Race Spectators,
    Thank you for your willingness to come out and stand along the roadsides as we run along your streets. Thank you for sitting outside in the heat, the cold, and even the rain. Thank you for cheering me on, when most of the time you have no clue who I am. Thank you for your encouragement, it really matters and makes a difference. Thank you for your creative signs that make me giggle and chuckle as I run along the roads. Some of my favorites from this past race include:

• I always appreciate the Grim Reaper standing at mile 11.5 with a sign that reads "the end is near"
• "less than 5% of all Americans will ever run a half marathon and less than 1% of Americans will ever run a full - congrats on being among this small group"
• I was surprised by these statistics
• "Left. Right. Repeat."
• "Go random stranger Go"
• "There is a Zombie behind you"
• "Pain is temporary, Pride is forever"
• "every step you take is one closer to the finish"

I am thankful for race spectators.

     Love, an appreciative runner

Dear Race Organizers,

   Thank you for your attention to detail. Thank you for your dedication and time you put into every event. Thank you for your leadership. Thank you for picking out amazing t-shirts and fabulous race bling. Thank you for the up to date communication and clear directions on what to expect and how things will go. Thank you for your ability to raise money for countless wonderful causes. Thank you for the ways in which you inspire health and fitness.

   Love, an appreciative runner

Dear Cities across the nation,

   Thank you for opening your arms and being hospitable to millions of road races across the globe. Thank you for moving your cars off of the street and allowing us to have closed roads to run on. Thank you for changing the way in which you get places while we run through your streets. Thank you for allowing people to put port-a-potties on your lawn so if nature calls we have an option. Thank you for letting us fill up your hotels and take over your towns for a couple of days. Thank you for showing us the beautiful places around your city and allowing us to run all over. Thank you mayors for the ways in which you welcome us to your cities.

    Love, an appreciative runner

Dear family and friends,

    Thank you for the ways in which you click "like" on facebook and instagram to show your support. Thank you for driving and sometimes even flying to come and watch me run. Thank you for the ways in which you ask questions and care about my most recent race. Thank you for checking to see how my legs are doing for days after a race and pretending to care about the toenail I am about to lose. Thank you for listening to the countless stories I tell about actual races and the crazy things I have seen while out training. Thanks for not minding about my sweat and stink when you give me a hug post race. Thank you for looking through the pictures and stopping to admire my medals that adorn my living room wall. Thank you for being willing to walk through every shoe store and letting me drool over shoes. Thanks for planning travel around amazing races! Thanks for your love and support.

   Love, an appreciative runner

Spring PLEASE come

Dearest Spring,
   While I have loved your predecessor Winter, I am more than ready for you to make your appearance. I know you have lots of work to do by melting the tracks of Winter, she conveniently just dropped about six inches on us last night and continues to drop snow on us today. I am sick of running on a treadmill and spending hours on the elliptical machine. I want to leave my car parked in the garage as much as I can and ride my bike to work, go for good long runs OUTSIDE without fear of falling flat on my face (twice last week when I attempted to run outside - note to self: still WAY icy outside don't be deceive). I want to go walk my dog and not have to put on my snow pants, boots, hats, mittens, long underwear, and my winter coat. I want to be able to go sit outside and throw the ball with her and enjoy it without my fingers falling off or losing Dakota's beloved orange ball in a snow bank somewhere.
    Let me not forget that my dog is nearly going nuts, she sits in the bathtub almost nightly and BEGS for me to fill it with water so she can play in the water. Seriously, my dog is begging for baths just so she can play in the water. Please come, melt the snow and ice so we can be outside again for long periods of time. Push, shove, be mean if you have to, it would be great to see you around here.
    Also please note that Winter's continual presence is having an effect on people around here, everyone is just a bit crabbier, a bit more cranky due to serious vitamin d inefficiencies, we need you to come and make your appearance. In fact, I am crabbier, I am more short tempered, I am frustrated by you, I am over you. 100% done with you and I would more than welcome spring.  I do love winter, I do love snow, I don't love ice that causes me to fall flat on my face, I do love you too spring, PLEASE COME HERE.
    My fitness level is not improving by you sticking around, I am trying to get in shape and I am trying to go for long runs but I can't lie to you and say that Winter is helping at all, in all reality the idea of another quarter mile on the treadmill makes me want to nearly cut my legs off. Please come and remedy my problems. I am over Winter, Spring please arrive now.

Love,
   Dakota and Me

Letter

Dear Cancer-
          You have been particularly nasty this week, while I realize you don't really have a time that you aren't nasty and you are over the top present in this broken world, this week I find myself particularly upset with you. You suck and there is nothing I like about you. In fact I would even be so bold to say I hate you.
          This week (I know you are active in claiming lives daily) you took one of my friend's mothers. A beautifully faithful, God honoring woman who served God with every ounce of her being. You ended her life far too soon. I hate the fact that you are unpredictable and that you don't care about age, race, gender, or any other factor. I hate that once you make your presence known you are always an aspect of life if even just a distant memory. You are a rough one to deal with, you don't play fair, you don't care what past anyone has or what the future may hold for them. You don't even seem to care how many times you have touched someone's family, you just show up what feels like time and time again. I hate you and I don't understand you. You have claimed the lives of many people who I love, I am frustrated with you to say the least.
          Not only have you taken the life of my friend's mother (and thousands of others) you have made your mark on one of my most favorite people in the world. You suck. I wish I could take you out of her and put you in me instead, I hate that you are in her and knowing the road she has ahead. I hate knowing that she is in pain, I hate knowing what you have done to her, I hate the way you make me nervous. Unfortunately for you, she's a fighter and the medical team caught you early. You haven't been there long, and you won't last long. You will be beaten. You will go away (seriously, consider your eviction notice posted).
          The really unfortunate thing for you is you don't have ultimate claim on her life, nor have you had the ultimate claim on the others whose lives you have ended far to short. You don't get the final word, you are not the ultimate reality. You aren't the one who wins in this world. I know you get credit for being all powerful and the one in charge, but here is the true story. I know and trust in a God who is bigger than you, I believe in the triune God who is the ultimate healer. While you may be the cause of some people's death you don't win, death never wins. I believe in God who has promised eternal life and life abundantly for all people. While people leave this earth, they are not gone forever, for this is but a fragment of what is to come. Someday, someday there will be a day when all pain is gone, when every crying tear is wiped away, and you don't exist. The God of creation is bigger and better than you, the God of peace continues to make all things new and comfort those in pain in the midst of your damage.
          I suppose I do owe you a thank you for a couple things, since the news of my friend you have brought me to God in prayer more than I can even imagine. You have reminded me what it means to pray without ceasing, you have helped to remind me what and who is important in my life. You have reminded me to not take any day or even any second for granted for you could be just around the corner. You have reminded me the of awesome God I serve. You have caused me to slow down yet again and give thanks for all that I have. You still suck, these are not redeeming qualities of yours, but I choose to find a golden lining to all things, including you.
          For all I care you can go away and never return, you can fall off the face of the earth and leave humanity (and all animals while you are at it), you aren't welcomed here. You won't have the final say, you won't be the victor in this world, while you will put up some good fights, and some may think that you have won, I know better, I trust in one who is greater than you, I trust in the creator of this world, the one who calls me to being, claims me, and bathes me in grace.

Sincerely,
    Sarah

Letter

Dear Swimming Lessons Parent,
   Thank you for trusting me to teach your child to swim, he is a great kid for sure and I am enjoying my time with him. I know he is your oldest child and you haven't had kids in swimming lessons before, you are a great mom for putting him in swimming lessons. I truly believe all kids should learn to swim as it is a life saving skill. I know he one of your most priceless treasures and you are allowing me to take him into what has the potential of being a dangerous situation, but trust me, I've done this before, with the same honor you give me hundreds (after 13 years of teaching swimming lessons I may even be to the thousands by now) of other parents have trusted me with their most precious gift. I know you are nervous and so is your son, he feeds off of your nerves. I know he is very important to you, I recognize that, I also know that he is a beginning swimmer so I keep my eyes on him all of the time.
    Please remember that you did enroll him in swimming lessons, so his swimming skills can advance, please don't hold him back, it isn't help for you to need to wipe his eyes every time I challenge him to blow bubbles in the water, or check if he needs to use the bathroom every other minute, he's old enough to tell you when he needs to go (and let's be honest, he wouldn't be the first or the last kid to pee in the pool). Yes, I know he won't be Michael Phelps when we are done with this eight week session however after three weeks I am already seeing his skills advance, trust me, pushing him a little to do things like: get his face wet, put his head underwater, blow bubbles, and float (with my assistance) won't ruin him for the rest of his life. Watch the way he smiles when he accomplishes a task, when he successfully puts his head all the way underwater he comes up in excitement with a smile going from ear to ear and says "did it, I did it, watch me again!" He is having fun, I am not pushing him too hard, he isn't crying, he'll be just fine if he gets water in his eyes and mouth, and while I think it's gross when kids pee in the pool, if he does it'll be just fine.
   Please sit back and move away from the edge of the pool during swimming lessons, enjoy the benches that are there for you to sit on. Remember the conversations that we have had, remember we have talked about this several times already. Please snuggle your baby for a few moments knowing that your oldest won't be interrupting you. Or if you don't want to take the baby out of the car seat, enjoy a good book, relax, play in your iPhone, space out, dream, pray, hope, and while you enjoy a half hour without a four year old needing your undivided attention, trust me. If I need anything or he needs anything you are there, and I am thankful that you care enough to cheer on your kid, to enroll him in swimming lessons, to come and watch him, but please let me do my job.
Peace-
  your son's swimming lessons instructor

Sick

Dear sickness invading my body,
   You have had your four days and I am over you, okay so I am clearly not over you as I still feel like crap. I have tried going to the doctor (which for me is a huge step) and they say you are viral and there is nothing I can do other than let my body battle you. I am annoyed with you. My throat hurts and my nose is like a faucet. I am taking vitamin c to combat you as well as drinking far more water than I can fathom. Yesterday I tried to flush you out with over 150 ounces of water. Leave me alone.
    Truth be told what annoys me more than being sick is the training you are screwing up. Do you know that I am running a half marathon on the 20th? While I am thankful you didn't show up over that weekend, I am still over the top annoyed. I can't make up for the training lost or the miles I wish I had run. I can't make up for wanting to get in one more super hard long run and you screwed it up. Three-fourths of the way through you make me incapable of finishing what I had started, I was coughing and my throat stinging. You annoy me. GO AWAY and do not come back, you aren't welcome.
     When you leave please also don't go to anyone else. So far you have stayed away from my fiance (which I am not certain how as he as sat on the couch next to me as I coughed and coughed and coughed, not to mention he leans over and kisses me goodnight when he is leaving each night) please continue to do so. I need to keep training, I need to keep running, I need to be able to talk on the phone to run and not sound like I do. So please please please, leave me alone.
Love,
  Me