Meditative Run

Joy here...After this week's first 20 minute run (my first run since March, yes, March!), I got out again this week for a 25 minute run in my minimalist shoes.

It's unbelievable to me how out of shape I am vis-a-vis running.  I mean, I know that I've been doing a lot of bike riding lately, and I know that I've actually been doing a lot of nothing physically for the past two weeks, but I was surprised at how 25 minutes was probably my limit.  I don't think I had much more in me...maybe I could have pulled off another 15 minutes or so, but that would have been pushing it.

While I was out there huffing and puffing for my wee 25 minutes along the bike path, Nomi and Lulu were on the opposite side of the world running in Australia's Gold Coast Marathon.  Nomi has now finished two (yes, TWO) marathons, and this one was Lulu's first-ever marathon.

Nomi and I began our running journey together, and she's just gone on and on with longer and longer distances, where I've veered away from the running road and onto the bike.

But part of me sure does miss those runs.

While I was out there huffing and puffing through my 25 minutes, I remembered what I love about running:  It's very creative and meditative.  Cycling is fun and fast and there's adrenaline and speed, but running (at least for me) is more about the rhythmic pounding of my feet against the ground and getting my breathing in time with my feet so that my whole body works like a drum...beating out its own rhythm...so that I can turn inwards and think about writing and the world and myself in it, and all those things that in my busy work-a-day world, I sometimes forget to take time to do.

So while I imagine I'm going to be doing a lot of bike riding for the rest of this summer, I'm going to try to take some time for these little runs so that I can reconnect with that thoughtful side of myself.

Over and out,
Joy