Do Do Run Run Run Do Do Run Run

Tonight is the first night I've run in over a week. Tonight is also the first time in over a week I haven't felt like collapsing from exhaustion due to an untimely cold. It felt great. Those three miles were a little slower than my normal pace, but I forgive myself because I didn't lose any distance on my route. I feel so centered now.

Running is spiritual for me. Kind of a "your body is a temple"kind of thing.

I don't listen to music when I workout outside. It is as much a safety rule (hearing oncoming traffic) as it is a mental discipline. When all you have is your mind keeping you going and making you keep pace - it a different game. In a gym I have to have music to drown out the drone of the machines and the groans of overly enthusiastic gym-goers, but outside it is just me and my mind.

I do my best thinking and praying while I'm running. It is the perfect time for me to sort through mental lists and remember the simple beauties of God's world. Tonight I ran at twilight, before a storm, the sky was a marbled cloud-scape of warm colors, then dull grays, then just darkness. The first lightning bugs of the season were out. I caught a few while running and let them go again just for the sheer childhood nostalgia. A very grown up thing like running for exercise mixed with the childish glee of firefly hunting was delightful. I sprinted up the stairs of my apartment just as the first flash of lightning and clap of thunder crashed through the sky. It was almost like God was saying: "Good job. It was hard, but you got it done."

I think I like running at night better than running during the day for a few reasons:

• I seem to always have more to think about at night than in the morning.
• It is easier to go longer without the sun beating down on me the whole time (I need a more shaded running path!).
• Fewer people are out so that means far less creepy cat calls.
• I like having the dark patches and then the light patches from the street lamps - I use them as mini distance goals within my run.
• My night time shower is not redundant from an earlier post-workout shower.

Speaking of post-workout showers - I think I am going to look into that right now.

Also: Congrats to my parents on the 30 year milestone of marriage. Thanks for getting married 'rents! It was kind of crucial to my existence. Holla!