Morning Running
I’ve fallen in love with running again. Not that I ever fell out of it. But, for a while there, I lost the oomph that I always felt in the past.
Truth be told, the past months, running felt more like a force of habit, or worse like work. It was something I had to do to maintain my fitness, keep the weight down, or reach a particular running goal. I missed the days when I felt so passionate about running that it came out in the way I wrote about it too, like THIS or THIS or THIS.
From February (after Hong Kong Marathon) to a couple of weeks ago, each of my runs were enjoyable, but they weren’t thrilling. I would run at Bonifacio High Street with the hubby or friends on weekday evenings. I also ran most of the major races. But, no matter who I ran with, how grandiose the event was, or how many thousands of runners joined a race, I felt ho-hum about each and every run I had.
Until the past couple of runs…
I’ve been waking up each morning excited to lace up. My mind is racing even before I hit the road. I am excited over running again. It has a lot to do with getting into the NYC Marathon lottery since I have a new goal. But, it has more to do with going back to the place and time when I first fell in love with running: early morning runs on my favorite roads.
I’ve gone back to the same morning runs on my own. Just me and the road. No chatter, no crowds, no brain clutter, no mental noise. I don’t expect to see anyone and I don’t want to be seen either. It’s going back to how I started running in 2007 when running was new to me. And there was much to discover.
Nowadays, I cover the same route. Same time as before. But, I go at a pace that is much faster than I’ve gone the past several months of marathon training; it is invigorating. In the silence and the vastness of the road, my mind is free to roam, imagine, brainstorm, dream, problem-solve, and relax, something I cannot seem to do during evening runs, when the day has left me with more thoughts than I can handle. The speed makes me feel like I’m leaving behind a huge chunk of weight, work, and worries. After one hour of running, I feel lighter, happier, and I feel I have more in me to fight the battles of the day. After my morning run, I feel I can take on the world.
