The Four I Trek For

 My children are a major influence in my running, I run both to model for them a healthy lifestyle that includes being physically active and taking time to care for yourself.  I also run because being a parent is hard and running is an opportunity to escape some of that stress and take time for myself to renew. 

I thought I would share a little about each of my children in the next couple of posts (with their permission).  My oldest is Luke, he is 11 and in grade 6, he is my serious child, from a young age he was asking big questions and thinking deeply about the world around him.  At home Luke is quiet and thoughtful, at school he is a bit of a class clown.  Luke's passion is soccer and he has worked hard to play for one of our local rep soccer teams, Norval Croatia.  

Luke is a wonderful big brother and excitedly welcomed each of his siblings, when we were expecting our youngest Evelyn Anne, he told his Nana that he loved her already even though they hadn't met.  He is quick to help Mark and I with his brothers and sisters and is especially close with Isaac.  Luke and Isaac up until around this time last year had shared a room, he used to sleep with Isaac anytime Isaac had a bad dream.  As the oldest Luke is also the most aware of Isaac's medical condition, he empathic to what Isaac is experiencing but he also feels the loss of what our family might have been. Luke remembers plans of hiking and biking adventures that are much more challenging to do now. Luke is also more cognizant of the impact Duchenne's will have on Isaac, understanding the loss of mobility as well as the shortened life expectancy. 

Even though Isaac is the only one in our family who has DMD, the impact of his diagnosis reaches all of us. My heart hurts for Isaac's brothers and sisters knowing that watching their brother move through the phases of DMD will impact them. 

Luke is my biggest fan when it comes to my running, he believes in my ability far more than I do.  Anytime I race he is always confident I can win, and when I do well he is never surprised. Together we love to run trails and make plans to adventure race, canoe and backpack.  We workout together 5 days a week, and when I workout on my own, especially when I am running intervals I miss him.  Luke and I also love to watch reality T.V. together, especially anything adventure related or baking.   Luke plans to run at least 10 km with me for my FKT attempt on the Thames Valley Trail and maybe by the time we get to April he'll be ready to run more. For Isaac's Birthday Trek last May Luke ran 21 km in a 24 hour period so I know his legs can carry him far. 

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