Maybe it was the small iced coffee or maybe I was just overexcited that my dad came to visit me but, whatever it was, I’ll take it and hail to thee! Today I ran a fabulous 10 miles at a 8’02” pace around my favorite place in the entire world, Bald Head Island, North Carolina. Can you tell I’m in a good mood?
I started out a little faster than usual… accidentally. But, there was not a single cloud in the sky and it was 70 degrees—perfect running weather.
About a mile into my run I stumbled upon my dad who was also “running”—he was actually stopped on the side of the road chatting with a friend. But, naturally, we decided to run together for a little—everyone likes a little company every once in awhile.
After running together for a mile we realized that we were making it a challenge for people to pass because we both like running on different sides of the road and the streets here are the size of a single lane on the beltway. We parted ways and continued on with our own runs.
Everything after is a blur. My run turned into one of those runs where your thoughts carry you. I cannot tell you whether I was running with the wind or against it, what music I listened to, or even if I was feeling exhausted or not. I simply do not know. I honestly do not even know if I thought about the course I wanted to follow—my feet just took me.
I think one reason I was able to run for so long was the sense of freedom that it brought me. For the past month and a half of being back at school I have felt like there is just not enough time in the day to get everything done—homework, socialize, my jobs, a colligate sport, figuring out life after graduation—it’s a lot and freaking stressful.
My run today was my chance at freedom from all of these thoughts that I cannot seem to clear from my head. Rather than focusing my attention on all the exams and papers I have coming up I was able to concentrate on the wedding I could see on the beach. Or, rather than thinking that I should really be applying for jobs right now, I was able to be in the moment and look at one of only three WW II planes that was flying above me—yes, that really happened. My heart was not racing because of my nerves about having lacrosse practice next week. Rather, my heart was pounding from spotting an alligator with a poor little turtle hanging out of his mouth. While this is a scaring scene that I never want to encounter again, I enjoy that it allowed me to be in the moment. My brain was spinning and I was thinking but it was all focused and centered around the here and now.
I greatly enjoyed todays run because it gave me the ability to be in the moment—thoughts still going, but good thoughts. Today, running was so much more than just sweat and burning calories.
Hello, Sunshine. 