About The Runs...

HA! Got ya, you thought I was going to talk about, well, my favorite subject...but no...
This really IS about the runs, my runs.
I was thinking as I was driving home today - about what I enjoy about running.
Sometimes people ask me how I do it, why I do it, what I get out of it.
First of all, there are few things I love more than a good, strong morning run. It's so invigorating and it's MINE!
Like this morning, I went out on a run with 40+ people, yet I ran "alone"...not because I had to, but because I just did today. I was in my zone, my "running bubble", and I loved every sweaty, hot, humid, dirty, hill-climbing second of it.
Sometimes, I run in a group like this and I talk the entire time with my "running husband" or another friend, or sometimes I introduce myself to someone new.
I love to take in the scenery on my runs...I hate running with headphones, I miss too much.
Like the sound of a fellow runner cheering me on, the "hello" of a pedestrian or just the simple peace and quiet of Mother Nature while everyone else is still in bed and I am stealing all the beauty of the morning right out from under their sleepy little noses.
Speaking of sites, I have seen some things on these runs..."ladies of the night" being dropped off, young girls making the walk of shame to their car, even a naked couple on a stairwell so wrapped up in themselves (literally) they didn't see or hear me.
But I have also seen bunnies making their way back to their homes cross my path, geese flying silently in formation across the sky and the pristine sunrise creeping over the city skyline and I pretend all of these things are just for me!
I coach about 10 months out of the year and I love it.
Seeing someone new to running find their space, pace and place and I am part of that memorable experience. Watching a runner aim for and reach a goal, even a tiny one, is amazing!
I share a lot of my runs with Judy and Maggie and we have seen some sights too...stinky hoarder houses, snakes (dead and alive) or roads covered with fresh snow and we are the first footsteps on that path.
We've dodged snow plows, cyclists, angry drivers and, well other runners. Again, these are all things I treasure. We have been on runs where we laughed, cried, cursed and struggled.
All memories, all worth it.
I have found money, clothes, injured people and LOTS of chicken bones?
Why are there so many random chicken bones just layin' around?
Anyhoo, I digress...
What it all boils down to is this...
I run because I can...
I run for me...

...and I LOVE IT.
What is one of your favorite running sights or memories?

Run safe, run happy!
-d