My alarm drags me out of a pleasant sleep that seems like it took forever to even fall into. I hit the snooze button, just in case, but am already rubbing my eyes and stretching, quietly grumbling about morning coming too soon.
The truth is, I don't have to get out of bed this morning as the sun is also rising. I would much rather remain warm and cozy under blankets than feel my feet hit a chilly wood floor. Yet I get up, grabbing a pile of clothes and heading into the bathroom to change.
I leave the house, re-tie a shoe when I get to the end of the driveway, and immediately start quickly walking...in part to warm up my cold muscles but also to meet my friend, Carrie, who has already turned the corner we were supposed to meet at and is walking my way.
She suggests a different route than what we had talked about, and I agree because it's actually a favorite of mine, although I haven't traveled it in almost a year. We walk to a corner before breaking into a run.
Running. For so long I identified with the joke, "If I ever had to run for my life, I would die." I wasn't athletic growing up. Clumsy, yes. Coordinated...not so much. Seriously. I twisted my ankle after youth group in high school on the sidewalk. My only broken bone happened while I was in middle school. It was a rib I broke while sneezing. Pure athletic talent, right?
So when I decided a few years ago that I wanted to start running, it was a slow and inconsistent thing. I didn't have anyone I was running with so there was no motivation. Then last spring I kind of freaked out about running by myself and asked Carrie if she wanted to join me.
There was a long and hesitant pause on the other end of the phone. I told her we could walk instead. I just wanted to be out getting some kind of physical activity. She agreed to that, and surprised me days later when she said she would be interested in working up to running. Working between the C25K program and another program laid out in the book, "Running Made Easy," we took off.
We ran through the spring, summer, fall, and beginning of winter, until illness, harsh weather, and crazy schedules inched in. I was surprised the first time we ran while the snow was falling lightly - I had never run in cold weather before, and surely not snow!
As spring has found its way back into Michigan, slowly, Carrie and I have started meeting up to run again. She had continued running over the winter and I told Tim that I had to laugh when, starting back into it, I realized we had reversed roles from the previous April. Instead of me encouraging her to go just a little further and letting her know what a great job she was doing, she was doing it for me! I had definitely gotten out of shape, but at the same time it was kind of like riding a bike, my body wanted to run and seemed to pick it back up easier than I thought it would.
This morning she really pushed me. We've been doing maybe around 2 1/2 miles and yesterday she said, "Hey, why don't we go a bit longer tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I was thinking it would be nice to get three miles in," I answered back.
"Or maybe four," she suggested. "We can always take walk breaks."
"What?! Who are you??" I didn't know how to answer. I don't even know if we had gotten up to 4 miles when we were running together before. "Sure. I'll definitely need to walk a bit, though."
"No problem," she said cheerfully.
Miles 2-3 were the most challenging for me. I was pushing myself further than I had in months. Suddenly, an idea came to my head. We had been talking about concerns in our lives and I asked if she wanted to pray about them. So we spent that time praying out loud for each other and for our kids and friends and whatever came to mind. We thanked God for a beautiful morning, the opportunity to be outside running, and healthy bodies. That distance may have ended up being the easiest one for me in the end.
By that time we had decided to push ourselves a little further. Actually, I should say that I stopped resisting Carrie gently pushing me. She's a beast and has been training for her first 10K (see, I've created a monster!) so she is used to these longer runs.
From 4 to just over 4.5 miles, we talked about what running has meant to us. She talked about how it brings her a peace and relieves stress. We talked about how Jesus ultimately does that, but I think that where we feel it spiritually in our soul with Him, running embodies that and puts it into a physical sense. We talked about how it's something that we can take the time to do for ourselves to help us focus on the day and be better moms and wives as a result.
Sometimes I picture my feet while running. Every time a foot comes up, I can visualize the dirt and debris from the sidewalks and roads that are falling back to the earth. I also feel like for me, it's a good illustration of how running relieves my stress. I picture some of my tension, nerves, and stress falling away to the ground with the dirt for every step I run. I feel lighter by the time I get home.
While saying goodbye to Carrie in front of her house, she mentioned how close I was to 5 miles (she has a watch that was tracking our distance.) I decided to run the rest of the way home, past our house a little bit to the corner we started at to make it a full 5 miles, and then walked back home to where morning chaos had begun and the smell of bacon filled the air.
I never, ever, ever thought I would enjoy running. Ever. I thought I was too old to try, like it had to be something you had started while young and in school. I thought it was silly to think I could run more than a mile, and then three. I cannot believe the joy and energy it has brought. Many days, especially weekends, when I return, Tim then heads out for his own run.
Pinterest is where I saw the running joke I mentioned in the beginning of this post. Yesterday Carrie had pinned a statement that fits my life much better now:
"Run - it releases so much more than just sweat."
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