Today I’m going to keep it short- no pun intended (well maybe a little pun intended).

At this moment in time, we all know what is happening in the world. I continue to pray for everyone’s safety and for those suffering from/or know someone who is suffering from COVID-19 disease. With that said I want to ask who have you checked on today? Who are you reaching out to? With a lot of states (if not all at the time of publishing) practicing the “Stay At Home” policy, what are you waiting for? There’s not enough outside stimulation in the universe for any of us not to acknowledge our loved ones in this moment. So stop whatever you are doing right now and call/text/FaceTime/Zoom/WhatsApp or whatever way of communication you choose and check on your family and close friends.

Although a lot of us are working from home I hope each of you are doing something you want to do with your downtime. Whether it’s exercising, reading (non work-related), cooking, making music (rap, sing, write, compose, etc.), dance or being creative in whatever way you want, make sure you do something just for you every single day. This especially goes for all of you strong parents out there who are teaching your kids right now. There’s so many companies that are offering free online workout, yoga, dance and meditation classes; certified teachers are donating their time to give tutoring help; accountants offering money assistance, and colleges offering free courses. God-willing this pandemic will simmer (if everyone does as they should) soon and you don’t want to come out on the other side of it not having accomplished something that will benefit you later. Cabin fever isn’t realistic with all of these and many more options to occupy your time. So what are you going to do?

See links below for some free activities and information to find out more. I would love to know what you find too!

College courses:

https://www.businessinsider.com/free-online-courses-from-best-colleges

https://www.edx.org

https://www.coursera.org

Workouts:

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/fitness/a31792038/coronavirus-live-stream-workout-classes/

https://www.sbnation.com/2020/3/19/21185741/free-online-workout-classes-to-stream-youtube-app-yoga-total-body-exercise-hiit

Please stay abreast of what is happening with COVID-19:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Last month I ran the NYC Marathon of 26.2 miles within 4 hours, 50 minutes and 26 seconds. I was able to run through all 5 boroughs. After I finished I had so much energy- adrenaline is its own kind of drug, that I was jumping up and down as if I was on a trampoline. One of my closest and best friends Rashawn, who was one of the main photographers for the marathon, met me at the finish line and hyped me up more (I even reenacted crossing the finish in slow motion). The feeling of accomplishment and completion was truly euphoric. Afterward, I was met with questions of how I trained or what was training like, but to be honest I always stay ready. Yes, I did increase my running a couple of months before, but I work out (intensely most times) 5 days a week and have for years, so I didn’t have to do extreme training for the marathon. I mentally prepared myself more than anything else. I’ve run half marathons and smaller races before, so knowing the heavy increase in mileage with a full, I had to get out of my head to realize I can do it, that I worked hard to get to this point. But when I got to mile 20, I hit that infamous “runners wall” and I prayed so hard for God to give my knees and thighs strength to keep going.

Though the entire race was an amazing experience, it didn’t start out that way. I had never been to Staten Island (where the race was starting) therefore, I underestimated my timeframe to get there from the Bronx. I was up at 6 am, on the train by 7:30 am, and my race time began at 11 am, so I figured I gave myself more than enough time. Well, thanks to the lovely MTA system, my train was delayed several times getting to the Staten Island ferry which was delayed 10 minutes. Not observing the timeframe of how long it takes for the ferry to get to the destination- it took 30 min. After the ferry docks, I do notice that there are no other runners, which is a key that something is wrong. The time was then10:40 am. I sprinted to find this shuttle bus that was to take runners to the start. As I was searching, I spotted 6 other people running and 4 with numbers. I made it on the bus and the bus driver asked, why we were all so late, everyone explained their story. After 25 minutes, we made it to the start point only to be met by a woman (I’ll call her Cruella), overseeing the start point. She told us we missed our start time and we couldn’t race. A woman who was on the shuttle bus and was running began to cry saying she and her husband were from Russia and came just to run. I immediately called my parents who drove up from Florida just to see my race. Completely choked up I told them that I wasn’t going to be able to race, but I would call them right back with more news. I then told Orande, who called me to see what happened. As we were speaking, I could hear in the background a few people trying to break through to Cruella. There were about 25 cops around us as well, a couple of them were sympathetic and asked the crying woman who was racing what happened and she told them. The rest of us were talking to the cops and members of the running team to see if there was anything they could do. One cop offered to escort us to the start point if Cruella would just let us race. Cruella must have gotten word she was getting a new Dalmatian because she broke down and let us move forward. So after we got the go-ahead, race numbers were scanned and around 12 pm I started my journey.

It’s true that it doesn’t matter how you start, it matters that you keep going and you finish. I had a goal of running the full marathon and told myself it would be in 2019. I prayed and meditated on it going into 2019 as I applied for the lottery to be entered into the race. Now that I can check it off as an accomplishment, I want to run it again in NYC and other cities. I’m thankful to my support system of Orande, my family, and friends who cheered me on before and the day of by sending words of encouragement or creating banners (thank you Qilah, love you) and always God for giving me the opportunity and ability. Without you all, a dope playlist, preparation, and a focused mindset I would not have been able to complete it in the timeframe that I did. We did it ya’ll!

Who's Checking Who?

Run Brooke Run