Yesterday I planned to run 20-25 miles, followed by a 15 miler
today. However, sore calves and low energy due to allergies forced me
to stop at 6 miles. Today I woke with my calves feeling better,
so I went out for another try. I did the usual South Farms 12 mile
loop, with an extra mile tacked on to get home for an aid station stop.
The weather was mid 60's with a cool breeze and a ruthless, steel-gray
sky. The sunlight flitting through the menacing clouds made the day
seem desolate and cruel. My pace was somewhat quick and
effortless, I was flowing along in a trance of calm emotion and not
much thought. I sometimes looked down at my feet and watched the shoes
extending forward, then pulling back just before ground contact. I
wondered how I learned to run, how my mind and body could make such
quick and complex decisions to propel myself forward. "I" choose to run
at a given moment, and then something takes over - I watch, a pilot
gazing out at the limitless horizon, steering the ship. Running, it seems so simple, but I think there is more to it than I realize. I am a hunter, in search of balance, enlightenment, love, understanding, beauty, the back and forth of pleasure and pain. I set the journey in motion, and then, watch. Today's
run went on and on, chasing the day to its end point. I've never been
happier or more content. All of the running over the years, starting
when I was 12 years old, led to this day - body, mind, and spirit
gliding over time and distance, until it slowly disappears, gathered up
in a swiftly moving cloud shadow. The only thing that matters, then, is
breathing - in, out, in, out - the forward motion of the body, the
somber eyes which take it all in.
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