When I started running, to say that I was regimented was a gross underestimate of my routine.
- I would always wear head phones and usually had a play list- having specific songs set at certain points of the run to get me through.
- I ran the same routes, over and over and over again. The mere mention of deviating from my routes would send a certain level of panic over me.
- If running with friends, I usually would have to run on the left of everyone else. Sometimes, it had to do with the Ipod headphone that was still in my ear, but not always.
I could go on, but you get the picture, regimented.
Runners, I have found, by nature are a regimented bunch. And while routine can be helpful and in some ways necessary in order to achieve specific running goals, the need to stick with them at all cost can rob one of the joy of the journey.
Much to the elation of my running friends, I have learned to let go of some of my rigid ways. I no longer wear an Ipod when running with others, and rarely wear when I’m running alone anymore. I am happy to run on the left, right, behind or sometimes in front of others. And I hardly balk at our “non route” routes and choose to embrace the not knowing where we are going as long as we end up with a certain distance. Progress…..
So when my husband suggested we go for a run this weekend together, in the country, I naturally jumped at the opportunity.
Ok, that isn’t really how it happened.
When I refer to my “running friends”, my husband is not one of them. Not because we are not friends, and not because he isn’t a runner…..rather our paces are dramatically different. He is the hare, and I am the tortoise.
Typically, I am anxious running with people who are faster. I inevitably feel like I need to speed up my pace and feel badly that the other person is slowing down his/hers. End result= a horrible run.
This week, I decided to be in the moment and enjoy the run. And rather than repeat patterns that ended in one/both of us having a bad run, I decided to be honest that in order for me to run with him, I needed to set the pace. He agreed, without hesitation.
No Ipod. I was able to listen to the birds chirp, and chat with my husband uninterrupted for an hour, a rarity for any of us who have school aged children.
Country Running….up/down/up/down with no traffic lights forced me to run harder, run stronger, and push myself because I had no external stimuli telling me it was now time for a break. I ended up running 30 seconds faster per mile than I had been averaging in the past month.
So here’s our funny little running journey in God-knows-where, Michigan…..
I swapped the noise of ambulance sirens and cars honking, the necessary stops of traffic lights and crossing streets with a steady pace down the rolling hills in the country. We came by a small horse farm, not a typical site on my training runs. So what does an animal loving, city girl do? Well naturally, I talked to the horses as we passed by and told each one how beautiful each one was…perhaps I was replacing the stop light breaks I get in the city with the conversation with the horses? Maybe……
We continued on our path, turning down our next street, while keeping the horses to our left. We came upon a stunning horse, close to the fence with her rear end facing towards us. Both of us, without saying a word, were thinking “wouldn’t it be funny if she pooped right now?” (Yes….we were both thinking that! Hey, we were in the country!)
No sooner did thought enter our minds did a HUGE toot! come out of this majestic, graceful animal sending her speeding away as fast as she could go looking back as if to say “Oh my gosh, who did that?”
I was uncontrollably laughing…..bent over holding my stomach kind of laughing……
The lesson I learned….had I not been willing to step outside my comfort zone, I would’ve missed the beauty of the journey. And would’ve missed out on a funny story to tell…..
Quote for the day….”Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” Neale Donald Walsch.
Peace and Happy Running…..
peaceinthejourney 