Courage Comes Quietly

Daily miles: 30.24 | Total miles: 11,725.28

I got up after 6:00 a.m. and didn’t feel well rested at all. I had a coffee, dressed warmly, and stepped out of the van at 7:30 a.m. I crossed the road and started running along the sidewalk.

Just a few meters in — still cold, tired, and in pain — Lootie suddenly appeared and greeted me. Lootie is the second woman world runner. I have met her during my first ten days in England. What a moment. We had a short chat, and then I moved on.

Everywhere I looked there was thaw. Mountains to my right, light slowly changing, and my body very clearly telling me to take it easy today. Less impact. More care. So I listened — and I walked.

I walked uphill with beautiful views, and with time the sun came out and started to warm me up. I waved at people along the way, and they waved back. One man spoke to me in Greek. I told him I didn’t understand, but he kept going anyway. I then told him I was from Helvetica. That seemed to work well enough.

At the next intersection, another test appeared. About five dogs, still in the distance, saw me, started barking, and moved right into the middle of the road, clearly trying to intimidate me. But you know what? By now, I can walk through them with confidence — respectful, calm, and steady — and just keep going.

I was proud of myself. And as I walked on, I started reflecting on courage. How it doesn’t arrive loudly. How it grows slowly, almost unnoticed, until one day you realize you’re no longer afraid in the same way you used to be.

At the top of the mountain, my sister was parked, and I took a short break. From there, it was mostly downhill — a beautiful, winding road, passing construction sites and rolling all the way down toward Marathon.

The museum was already closed, but my sister went in anyway — for a €2 admission fee — and took some pictures for me. I really like the photo of the first medal and the woman runner.

From Marathon, I followed the Athens Classic Marathon course. It’s not an easy route to run these days with the traffic, but it felt meaningful to be there, tracing those historic kilometers in my own way.

Later, I met my sister at a firefighter station, and from there we drove to a motorhome camping place close to Athens. We both really wanted the same things: to wash our hair, have a hot shower (I honestly almost couldn’t stop showering), and do laundry.

Once again, my sister had done so much of the hard work while I was out running — and even now, while I’m writing this. It’s incredible how much you do. Thank you.

I’m completely tired, but thankfully not in as much pain as yesterday.

That already feels like a win.

Take care. See you tomorrow, Andrea