Random acts of kindness: pay it forward chain headlines

Last night baby boy woke every 90 minutes, and partway through the night we had a house-related catastrophe (don't ask) that kept me awake through what little sleep I might otherwise have gotten.

Needless to say, I wasn't in a chipper mood when I "woke" up and got ready for work this morning.

But then... browsing Express on my commute this morning, I read the following:

Making the work less terrible, one overpriced coffee at a time
A woman started an act of kindness chain that lasted for hours at a Starbucks drive-thru in Florida. She ordered an iced coffee around 7 a.m. Wednesday and asked to pay for the caramel macchiato for the stranger behind her. He returned the favor. The chain kept going - all the way up to 379 - as employees began keeping count.

Other news sources claim that the chain re-started, lasted as long as 11 hours, and reached as many as 700 customers.

The news actually made me a bit misty-eyed. I know buying a cup of coffee is a small thing when there are seemingly insurmountable problems in the world, but small kindnesses matter. I'm sure the lady who started the chain had no idea it would reach all the way to Washington, D.C.

But it did.

Long time readers of this blog (who stuck around through my maternity leave earlier this year) know that I am a huge fan of random acts of kindness. I also have a borderline obsession with my morning joe. And this news, expertly blending the two, was a bright spot in my otherwise bleak morning.

Thank you, coffee lady, for making me smile today.

Rants and Raves

RAVE:

I have three things to rave about this week:

1. I watched a man offer his seat on Metro to a mom and her kid. This occurred one stop after another rider offered a seat to me. (Just because.) I declined -- I actually prefer to stand when I ride -- but it was so very refreshing to see kindness among fellow commuters.

2. 2 new shoes mean my hips aren't bothering me any more!
Never ever again let me put 1,000+ miles on a pair of running shoes. I'm a veteran runner. You'd think I'd know better. But somehow all those miles I walked while pregnant didn't seem like "shoe miles."

3. 3 mother runners + 4 miles = 1 gorgeous run completed before 8am!

... a few more runs like this and I might actually feel like a "real" runner again.


RANT:

I hate the idea that I'm not a "real" runner right now.

I am a firm believer that anyone who runs is a runner. I tell that to other people - and believe it - all the time.
But somehow, when it's me, I can't keep the same perspective.

(re)Becoming a Runner

I ran through my first two trimesters of pregnancy, but by 27 weeks my ligaments were too loose to keep running safely. I took several months off of running for my third trimester.

My plan was to jump right back into the game 6 weeks postpartum.

But I had an emergency cesarean birth, leaving me feeling less than bouncy.

Within a few weeks, I was speed-walking and doing strength training to rebuild my decimated core muscles. I started running again as soon as I was cleared by my doc...

I even ran a 5k.

But then my baby started waking up every 90 minutes at night, and I fell off the wagon.

Now, slowly, I'm (re)becoming a runner.

I've joined a couple of running groups.
And in the past couple of weeks, I've even attended group runs!

I'm slower. My muscles are mushier. Between child-care, cooking, commute, and work, (and naptimes. and mealtimes. and EXHAUSTION) it takes all my creative scheduling energy to cobble together 45 consecutive minutes of running time. But I'm beginning to regain my stride (literally and figuratively).

Yesterday I did my longest (or close to longest), definitely hilliest, and undoubtedly FASTEST run in well over a year.

One step at a time...