Taking the Scenic Route

One of the reasons I fell in love with running in the past year was because of the experience. Running allows for an experience that is unlike anything else. When I am running, I am able to experience the world around me in a brand new and completely different way. There are so many things that I am able to take in about the place I am running that I can't experience when I am driving and whatnot. There were places that seemed brand new to me in the town I live in when I started running the same roads I had driven down a thousand times before. I had the same, only maybe more profound, experience when I ran my first half marathon in Downtown KC. I had driven through the busy city so many times, but that was the only time I think I ever REALLY experienced Kansas City.

I think that one of the things that has really put a dent in my craving for running is my super crazy schedule. I have to run at the most ridiculous time. I have to be at work around 6, and I run around 4. I know I am not the only person in the world who has to wake up before the sun, but that is the whole issue with it. I enjoy running at night every once in a while during the summer, but I don't want to run under the moon and stars every single day. I love being able to really enjoy my surroundings when I run and running so early kind of puts a damper on that.

I ran a wonderful run today. I forgot my watch, so there was no pressure for time. I also had nothing else to do today, so I took it slowly and just relaxed. I got to run through a beautiful park with trees, a pond, and there were people having picnics, and the soundtrack for my run was the roar of the crowd attending the little league baseball games. It was glorious. I was able to think about how beautiful the Earth is, and how thankful I am for it all. I also remembered to take a drink to keep me hydrated. I hid it under a bench, and I ran multiple loops of a 2 mile trail. My sister had told me once that she would plant water bottles along the route she mapped out before she went to run, and I need the boost more and more as it begins to warm up some more. The only downside to the whole thing was that someone stole my water bottle. Now I would think the whole thing was just an honest person doing their part and throwing away some trash, but this was a reusable, double walled bottle with water and ice floating in it. It clearly hadn't been there that long. Either way, I am really not even too upset about that, but I was getting too thirsty to run the last lap, but I still got in a pretty good run overall.