– Mitch Albom (For One More Day)
Saw this post/caption on my FB feed early this morning. I follow a lot of running-related FB pages so they are always in my face. Sometimes they inspire me, sometimes I disagree with them...but they always make me think.
When I'm out running, I like to get lost.
Not geographically, but in my own thoughts. I do like the feeling of running, because it makes me love the feeling of living.
I have struggled with my running a little since we've gotten to the UK.
If I take the 15 mile cracked-up, uneven bike trail toward Cambridge (which in theory sounds like the perfect way to get miles in along the river) and all I'm focused on is not rolling my ankle and how much my knee will hurt later, I can't get lost.
If I'm running through the small, quaint streets of Ely and constantly trying not to get hit by a car at every driveway and hidden turn, and I'm just focusing on survival, I can't get lost.
How do people run here? They don't even have a track to fall back on...makes me realize how fortunate I was growing up where I did in the states with a track available to use at the middle school, the high school, multiple at U of M and every city I lived in after.
I'm not complaining. There are just unique challenges here. The man at the butcher shop understands. We somehow got on the topic of running the first time I went in a couple weeks ago. He lives in a village/town about 7 miles away and runs on the roads there; he acknowledged its difficult to run here. Thank you! I was thinking "ahhh, country roads. I miss those Kansas country roads..." He remembered me when I went back in yesterday and asked me how my running is going. I told him about the same.....struggling to get in the groove. I have explored a few new places but not found the openness I need. And then I asked him if running on the roads is common here, or the norm (novel idea-ask a local). It's not that I hadn't thought about going outside of Ely and hopping on the road, but I guess I just wasn't sure "how things work here." He reassured me that it was, so I guess it's time to buy a bright orange reflective running suit and try it out :) I think part of my hesitation is that there is usually not a ginormous shoulder next to the roads here....just nothing or, even better, a deep ditch. So back home I was usually ok with risking an occasional clueless driver because I could just dive, but now.....
Numerous people have pointed out there is a running club, which I knew about quite a while ago because I'm always curious about what kind of running community there is in a city or town.
I thought about joining, but considering that I love to run alone for the most part, I haven't checked it out yet. Wasn't sure about showing up, using them for their information/running routes and then never showing up again. I guess since the butcher understands my runner problems, there is always him, ha! We ran into one of Dave's friends last weekend at a market in another town and he was also commiserating with my trouble getting into the groove...the groove is critical to the run.
The scenery here is beautiful. The butcher (really, I should ask him his name before its months down the road and I'm still calling him 'the butcher') told me about another area along the river yesterday that I am going to explore tomorrow. Not super close, but it sounds like a scenic area where I can log some good miles.
When I run, I think about life. I listen to my heart. Heart rate, but also what its saying. I have ups and downs physically and mentally and I push through boundaries. I clear my head.
It can't be about cars. Or rolling my ankle. Or running into people. So yes, I'm kind of particular about my running.
In Kansas, I was able to throw on my shoes, run out the door and disappear into the countryside within minutes. Of course those roads got kind of old after 4.5 years, which is why it's fun to move :) I miss them, but I will find my roads here.
My shoes are waiting for me to get my groove back. They are waiting for me to get lost.
