Like I Do.

In my last post I wrote that running makes me feel strong and healthy and lucky. Since then I've realized that I feel the same way about my faith. I know this world is increasingly anti-Catholic and godless. But I find that the more I learn about Catholicism, the more sense it makes.

But I'm not going to go into all that now. It's a Monday and I'm tired, especially after after a busy weekend full of youth group stuff. Since 2010, I've been a core member for Life Teen at Our Lady of Mercy in Hicksville. This basically means that I help plan and run youth group meetings and events for teenagers. 

On Friday night was the first Holy Hour and Dodgeball event of the new school year. This entailed cramming into St. Ignatius church with hundreds of other people, mostly young adults. The guys who run this thing are no joke. At this point I've had a ton of holy hour/adoration experiences, but they really do it best. The atmosphere, the music, the talks... at my first one, years ago, I was skeptical. Now I look forward to it each month. As I grow older I find myself praying more and more, an experience that is typically one-sided. But it's only in the environment of this holy hour that I've ever felt as though I know what He's trying to say back.

And this was followed by pumpkin beers and wings at Buffalo Wild Wings with a group of awesome young adults who happen to love God like I do. 

Even though I didn't get home until well after midnight, I was up bright and early Saturday morning to road trip with Kevin and Theresa to Life Teen training in Pennsylvania. The day featured talks, breakout sessions, mass, food, good people, and general awesomeness. My faith has taken me to places I never would have been otherwise, like an Indian reservation in Montana and concrete houses in Mexico and this random little church in Pennsylvania.

Then, yesterday, was the Life Teen kickoff for the new school year. Dozens of teenagers, ice breakers, skits, food, prayer, fire pits, s'mores. Chatting with Annemarie and Michelle, fellow core members, afterwards about wedding stuff. 

It's hard for me to blog about this, actually. I do have a lot of friends now that are Catholic and are into youth ministry and God and all of that, and they've given me the confidence to be more open about my faith. But I know a majority of the world out there is anti-Catholic. If they read this, they won't understand. They'll think I'm weird. They'll think I'm crazy. They might even think I'm hypocritical because I've been far from perfect in my life. (Let's just forget the college years, shall we?)

Maybe that's why it's important for me to write it. Because you can believe in God and be normal. Your life can be average in all other ways. I've met enough people now to believe that. People who have jobs and hobbies and interests like everyone else does. They also happen to be practicing Catholics as well.  And they're some of the best people I've ever met.

I'll delve into this deeper another day. There is so much more to this than even I know. It's overwhelming and daunting and scary and incredible. And maybe that's why I love it.

Why I Run.

It's been a busy week, starting with running 13.1 miles through the streets of Philadelphia.

Me and my friend Kathleen with our free post-race alcoholic beverages.

New bling.

This was the first race where I thought about/prayed for specific people during each mile. And I do think it made a difference, even though I finished three minutes slower than my PR. My official finishing time was 2:15:42, which I'm satisfied with.

I know most of you are probably wondering, why the HELL would someone voluntarily run for two hours straight? (Or five hours, if you count my marathons.) 

It's kind of hard to explain. I like the feeling of being a runner more than I like the actual act of running. I love knowing that I CAN do it. I love finishing. I love being able to run farther and faster. When I first started, running more than a mile seemed impossible. Now I know that it isn't.

Running makes me feel strong and healthy and lucky. It helps me stay disciplined and in shape. I hope to continue doing it as long as possible.

The running community is also great. Every time I run a race I love being part of something bigger than myself, part of a group of people running toward the same goal. For most races, that goal is just the finish line. For a lot of races, like the ones I run with Team in Training, runners are supporting a charity, raising money and awareness for a good cause. How many sports can you say that about? Most of the runners I've met are truly amazing people.

Anyway. I almost threw up the first time I ran a mile. Now I've run three marathons and a bunch of half marathons. And if I can do it, so can you. Yeah, I know you're thinking, ha. That's impossible. But don't forget that that's what I thought too. But it's not, and I have the medals to prove it.

Mile by Mile.

Leaving in few or Philadelphia to run the Philly Rock and Roll Half Marathon tomorrow. I'm psyched, but I don't feel QUITE as well trained as I would hope to be. Someone suggested that I assign a special intention to think/pray about during each mile. Here goes:

Mile 1. Patrick, my fiancé and best friend, and our future together.
Mile 2. My parents, for randomly deciding to have me 11 years after having five kids.
Mile 3. My siblings, all six of them.
Mile 4. Peace in Syria, and safety at events like marathons.
Mile 5. My in-laws: the ones I have through my siblings, and my future ones: Jen & the Murphys.
Mile 6. My nieces and nephews. All 10 of them.
Mile 7. My bridal party and other close friends I’ve had over the years.
Mile 8. Capuchin Youth and Family Ministries, all of the amazing people I’ve met through it (especially Father Fred!), and the future of the organization.
Mile 9. Our Lady of Mercy LifeTeen, all of the amazing people I’ve met through it, and the future of the group.
Mile 10. Team in Training, all of the amazing people I’ve met through it, and the future of the organization.
Mile 11. New Paltz, the town that has shaped who I am as a writer so much. Especially my writing professors and the New Paltz Youth Center.
Mile 12 is for my sister Gina.
Mile 13 will be for anyone who likes this post :)
The last tenth of a mile will be for Patrick, again.

I'm supposed to leave in half an hour, so I guess now is a good time to start packing. After I finish my tea, of course.

Commute.

Anyone who really knows me knows how much I hate Hempstead Turnpike. For those of you who are not familiar with this wretched pathway, it’s basically the ugliest street on Long Island. Completely commercialized and concrete. Very little greenery. Also apparently quite a death trap for pedestrians. During rush hour, it could take six hours to travel roughly a quarter mile. At least that’s what it’s feels like.

Also, despite being three lanes wide each direction, there’s simply not enough space for all of the cars that need to be on it for one reason or another. During my drive home it’s just a mess of cars trying to merge onto Hempstead Turnpike from the parkway, and cars trying to cut people off so that they can get on the parkway, and cars desperately trying to make a U-Turn even though no one seems to want to give an inch to let them in. Me included. (Hey, it took me 20 minutes to get that inch!)

I realized today, as my car crawled along at a pace of a millimeter an hour, that sometimes my brain feels sort of like Hempstead Turnpike. On an average day I have a million thoughts fighting for space in my head, coming and going, when I can really travel one path at a time. And in the end it sometimes just results in ideas just not getting the space they need to go anywhere. Sometimes a life can feel a little too much like a traffic jam, especially when I’m stuck at behind a wheel or behind a cubicle. 

When you’re forced to be still, though, you notice things that you wouldn’t otherwise. You can witness the leaves literally starting to fall from the trees. You take note of how the clouds reflect in the tall glass windows of your office building. You realize that these are annoying vehicles surrounding you and stalling you are driven by actual people, separate yet connected, traveling on the same path as you, at least for a little while.

I prayed an entire rosary and wrote an entire blog post in my head before I even hit Newbridge Road. I also realized that I've been engaged only four months, even though it feels like four years, and I still have thirteen months left of engagement to go. Meanwhile, I am the most impatient person in the world (as you can probably tell due to my hate of traffic).

Yet. As with every commute home. I just have to have faith that I'll get there eventually. And try to enjoy the ride as much as possible along the way.

We've All Got to Start Somewhere.

Hello world. This is me:

Probably feeling very lame about taking a selfie and loathing the word "selfie."

ANYWAY. Ever have one of those days where you were like, "what the hell, I'm going to start a blog"? I did. Today.

My name is Diana Christine Caporaso and I used to blog back in the day when blogs were called "online journals." (Why did they change that anyway?)

EXPLANATION TIME! 

About the title of this blog. In case you were wondering. Sneakers Stories Salvation? But why?

1. I'm a fan of alliteration.
2. They allude to three of the things that I'm most passionate about in my life: Running, writing, and God.
3. I think that pretty much explains it.  

MY LIFE RIGHT NOW, BY THE NUMBERS 

401: The number of days until I cease to be just Diana Christine Caporaso and become Diana Christine Caporaso Murphy.

13.1: The number of miles I will be running this weekend at the Rock N Roll Half Marathon in Philadelphia.

3: The number of years I have volunteered as a core member with Our Lady of Mercy Lifeteen in Hicksville. Youth ministry = amazing awesomeness and I'm not afraid to say it. Year four is about to start in the next couple of weeks.

20: The number of pounds I want to lose before my wedding next year.

5,972: The number of times during an average work day that I want to stab myself in the eye I ask myself why I'm wasting a majority of my life behind a cubicle.

Okay, that's enough numbers for now. I'm a writer, anyway. I do better with words.

Goodbye for now, world.