Tuesday, December 3, 2013

7 miles in pictures

My body doesn't want to run today. I'm tired. I'm tired to the core of my being. Plus I have a ton of candle orders to get out. My eyes burn. I feel feverish. And did I mention I'm exhausted?

Blood work tomorrow.

Today my heart and my head needed to run to a new place. The problem? My body wasn't cooperating. My body was anchoring me to a place I didn't want to be. I had been doing really well changing my thoughts up to this point. But how do you change your body?

It started with my mind winning the battle that got me out the door. It turned out that was more than half the battle.

It was warm compared to the frigid temperatures I had been running in lately. It was a comfortable 38 degrees. It instantly felt great. I started out purposefully slow. I ran 9:53 the first mile. I noticed immediately how good I felt after mile 1. My feet were on autopilot heading to my favorite running spot along the lake.

I turned left on West Lake Rd and my pace picked up. I looked up before hitting a mile and a half. Big hill. Really big hill. But it's the only way to get to my favorite place.

Up. 
Up. 
Up we go.


What goes up must come down. 

As hard as it was to make the climb, I'm learning to love hills. Did I just say that??

Hills make me feel strong. 

"It's not the hill we conquer. It's ourselves." said Sir Edmund Hillary.

The climb led me to these guys when I finally reached the top. I first saw them on my early morning long runs last spring and summer when they were just fawns.

For some reason the site of this little deer family totally inspired me. It was bittersweet reaching the top and meeting the mama with her babies nestled up next to her, papa standing strong in the background. 

God I still miss my parents.

Well what do you know. Feverish exhaustion is gone. My mind wins.

Miles 3, 4, and 5 clicked by in record time. I became keenly aware of the beauty surrounding me. It seemed an entire world away and yet it was familiar at the same time. As far away as it seemed my brain reminded me that it was my own two feet that brought me here. The gigantic houses I usually oohed and ahhed over were now just markers along a beautiful path. I barely noticed them. 

Instead, the beauty of nature had my full attention. 

The best part of today's run came after the turn around point. I had done a straight 3.5 miles out and 3.5 miles back. As I was heading home I passed one of my favorite views of the lake. Last year was a much different experience running past this spot. The water was rough back then and the waves were hitting the shore with an intensity I had never experienced. The heat of that day was also gone today. The lush greens and vibrant blue of the sky were replaced with a stark and cold gray. 

But in spite of the starkness and cold, today the lake was calm. It looked like glass. My mind reflected on all this as I snapped a picture. If I had stopped to look closer I swear I could have seen my reflection in the mirror of the water. The lake somehow contains the intensity of yesterday, the peace of today, the stillness of now and the hope of tomorrow. 

Yesterday, today, now, tomorrow. The seasons of my ever changing life. 

As I glanced back for one last look at the water it seemed to whisper, "Just be still. It will all work out."



All the true things must change and only that which changes remains true.
-Carl Jung

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