Last weekend some friends and I took a trip to Mendocino. We tasted wine on the drive up through Anderson Valley (some amazing pinots – I loved Goldeneye’s Gowan Creek. We stopped at Husch, and the people there were outrageously friendly… the wine was good too!). When we got to the camp site, my friend Ryan built a blazing fire, and we cooked, ate dinner, and sat around telling stories. My friend Lindsey brought up a tradition she had learned about on a trip to a yoga retreat in Massachusetts. Linds called it jambo sana (which means a big hello), and to participate, everyone sat in a circle and we told stories one at a time about what we’re thankful for. I thanked my friends for being enthusiastic about the outdoors, and for the circumstances that brought us together in Mendo.

Because of the physical demands of running, when I’m on the road or a trail, I often find myself filled with thanks for my legs which work beautifully with the rest of my body to carry me for miles, and hours down gorgeous trails all over California. Sometimes I can’t believe how lucky I am to be able to run, to withstand weather (hot/cold/rain/snow… etc), pain, injury, and even my comforter that looks so cozy at 5am when I head out for my daily run. Bodies are malleable, and I think that runner’s bodies are the most forgiving of all.

Recently I picked up a book called, “Women Who Run,” a collection of stories from elite athletes to every day runners. It’s rare that books ever give me chills, but this morning on my Muni ride into work, I read about the efforts that Bobbi Gibb, Kathrine Switzer, and Jacqueline Hansen made to drastically change the way women run, and race in America. And then there’s Joan Benoit Samuelson, who has long been and running idol of mine. I was shocked to read how recent her Olympic victory really was not because of her stellar performance, but because of the deliberate exclusion of women from the Olympic marathon based on arbitrary assumptions that women are not capable of running longer than 800 meters.

My jamo sana for today is for the pioneers of women’s distance running. Thanks ladies!