Get Shit Done

Sister Run No. 2!  Two miles, she is improving faster than I did.  I think I stuck to one mile runs for at least two weeks.  I talked the entire time and she ... was more tolerant of me.

I know everyone always says "my sister is the best/smartest" insert whichever extreme adjective you'd like, but mine is.  When my parents got divorced we moved into separate houses, and I think that's part of the reason she's my best friend.  She is literally too smart for her own good.  She is one of those kids who is 8th in her class, and knows 1-7 personally.  One time I helped her make a Pi day t-shirt which was a play on rational and irrational numbers and one of her favorite books.  I asked her if people at school liked it and understood the reference to the book and she said "The people who read the books loved it, and I didn't bother explaining it to the people who said they saw the movie."

She's always had the drive to do whatever it is she wanted to do.  When she was little and our parents got divorced she decided she wasn't going to study.  Her grades started slipping and I thought ... how do I get her to study?  Naturally, I decided to bribe her.  I told her for every straight A report card she brought home I would buy her a new purse.  Eight purses later she was going into junior high, and I was slowly going broke.  I promised her a cruise if she got higher grades then me or straight A's in every class in junior high.  Two years later, we had a wonderful eight day cruise of the Western Caribbean   We went snorkeling, clear bottom kayaking, swimming on a private island, and to a fancy dinner every night.  When we were swimming, she said to me.  "I think I'm always going to study so that I can get a good job and go on trips like this all the time.  My cousins who didn't study don't get to do things like this, and I want to."  I had never been so happy.  It was $1,500 well spent.

So today when we were running, we started talking about our lifestyles and how exciting it is once you finally realize you can make your life into whatever you want it to be.  I was surprised when she said to me "I know mom and dad aren't really active, they just sit around and watch TV.  I don't want that kind of lifestyle.  I want to become a runner this summer, so make me go with you."  I wish I would have figured out that I had the power to change my life when I was 17.

100 Miles Down 150 Miles To Go