what I talk about when I talk about running. (MM#16)

[for you runners/readers out there, this post's title is in reference to 
a pretty decent book by Haruki Murakami. look it up.]

Today, I went for a run.

(that's not me, don't worry.)

Not that exciting coming from a girl who used to call herself an NCAA Div. I athlete, right?

Yeahhhh, well I was never really that good to begin with, and let me tell ya, it is way easier to get out of shape than it is to get into shape.

So here we are, just three months after my last college race, and it's a big deal that I got up off my lazy derrière to go for a run. (It would probably be more appropriate to say "I went for a jog," but I just can't reduce myself to that. Yet.) I went with Z's roommate*, and it wasn't anything special, just a few miles around campus. I guess it was special, though, to a certain extent. Let me explain.


Brett asked me how it felt to not have assigned workouts, to be done with the I-have-to-run-every-single-day thing. We talked about this concept for pretty much the rest of the run; how it honestly feels better than it should to not have to wake up and run everyday; and also how, at the same time, it feels worse than I was anticipating to feel so unlike my relatively athletic self so quickly. The conversation meandered through the concepts like marathon training, weight gain, injuries, being part of a team, being one of those people who runs on campus sidewalks...Eventually we made our way back to the house, and that was that. A successful venture.

Today's run was good, not just because I burned off some calories that needed a-burnin, but also because I was able to see why running was, and should still be, a valuable part of my life. A little bit after we finished our run, I found myself on the blog of a fellow runner (can I say that? fellow runner?). She struggles too with the love/hate relationship she has with running, and her honesty about it is...refreshing. Her post today was perfectly timed, as it reminded me that running doesn't have to be about performance, or about always improving, or about always having a finish line in sight.

Running, for some, can be about rejoicing in the gifts that God has so freely given. Gifts of mobility, of beautiful wooded trails, of breathtaking sunsets, of camaraderie.

While looking for a picture to go with this post, and I stumbled upon this Nike running ad. I like it.

Dang. Maybe, just maybe, I can get back to running on a regular basis, even if only to be able to agree with this ad.


(*Where was Z during all of this, you ask? Well, thanks to his padre's stop in town last night, Z was sprawled out on the couch with a tummy full of leftovers from a Superbowl Sunday Mexican meal. Too..much..foooooood....)

I know I'm cutting it close, yet again, for this to count as a Mindful Monday, but you'll just have to deal. And sorry for the long-winded-ness. You'll just have to deal with that too.

Happy "Monday" y'all.
-M