GLORIOUS!

When I got home, my mom asked her usual question, “How was your run?”  My answer, “GLORIOUS!”  It was only a three mile run, as I planned, but wow it was great.  It wasn’t super-fast, but faster than I have been going, so that was good.  The road was soaked and puddly in areas, but the creeks were flowing so fast, and they were beautiful.

This run started in a way that I would have usually ruined or even ended a run, in the past, but not now.  I plugged in my headphones and they didn’t work.  Bummer.  I knew it wasn’t an issue with my phone but just the headphones them self.  But in the past, I would have just about skipped a run, if I couldn’t have music to push me through it.  But when I run with Brianna I don’t use my headphones, but I have her to chat with (probably so much that it irritates her).  And I recently had a really good runner friend tell a lot of enjoyment of running comes from not using headphones, you get to listen to nature.  And that makes sense, I really like the outdoors.  But I really thought that I need my music to block the sound of my own footsteps, my own breathing, and to block my mind from the run, but focus on something else and just run.

Also the while driving to the park, where I ran, I kept thinking of yesterday’s blog, okay focus on God, pray, do it to His glory.  And I was really thinking man can I do that while listening to pop music or rock and roll (not that I think anything is wrong with that, as I am listening to Hootie and Blowfish right now)?  But I then listen to the lyrics, and focus on that, not God.  So I guess God decided that if that was going to distract, He would just take away that distraction (I really don’t know if what was a God thing, but it really seemed like it was).

So music-less I started my run, and was like yea I can do this no big deal, won’t be my favorite run, but push through it and get it done.  First .25 mile is downhill, piece of cake, got it done before I hardly realized I was running.  And that is when I got to the stream, and the water was RUSHING, beautiful look and sound.  That was followed by the sound of a loon and woodpecker, which would have both been missed with headphones in.  Within .75 mile, I really forgot that I didn’t have music.  And that is when I was like dang, I didn’t know you could hear the trucks on the highway from here.  Oh maybe that is not the highway, I didn’t know a mac-truck would come back this park road, but it isn’t getting closer, what is it.  The spill-way, the water was flowing down the slip way so fast that it was making a ranging sound it was really neat to experience of the sound of it for around .75 of a mile.

After I lost the sound of that, I thought, wow this is great.  And that is when it started.  Thank you God for this run!  Thank you for the body you provided me, for this beautiful area to run.  And the thank you list went on, I just felt so grateful.  I wasn’t praying complete sentence.  It was more like Dear God, running thank you! And from there it all interconnected.  Running thank you, gifts talents, Brianna, Nathan and Holly, Mill Creek, Geneva, Dakota, my dogs, animals, nature, thank you.  And on and one, it may not make sense the order of the list, but it does to me and wow was I loving it.  Praise God!  So this went on for about a mile or more.  Then the last .75 a mile is up hill so the focus on the run came.

I really pushed to run this .75 uphill faster than I ran anything else that run.  It wasn’t easy but I focused and really got a rush from it.  It was a short but glorious run.  I really felt so able.

Also it was the first time this year that it was remotely warm enough to run with shorts on, and the cold water splashing up onto my legs was such an invigorating feeling.  So yes, it was GLORIOUS!!