trading ashes in for beauty all the days of my life: Running

The academic part of me is not motivated at all, but i am always in the mood for writing.

Today, I ran what became my favorite race. Grant it, it was only my third race, but I swear it was amazing. Teen was there and i love her (plus i got to see her friday too, which is unheard of, but thats a whole different story). Mayra, Shelby, Ava and I were all running it and i knew it would be great. I was right, i loved it.

I didn’t love it, because of my time (5.5 miles through forestry terrain in 54:11). I didn’t love it because my socks were comfy, which they were. I also didn’t love it because I ran in stretchy pants. ha!

I loved it because it was beautiful; the course was awesome. Not only was the scenery awe-inspiring, but the tuff terrain made the run really interesting. The hills were terribly rewarding and the overgrown roots were fun, yet challenging. The trail was filled with fellow runners and the atmosphere was filled with solidarity; we were all striving towards the same goal that lied just over that meadow-y hill. Each person beautiful in their own right. Each person with their own story. Each person with their own past. But all with one thing in common… the reality of the place we started, the race we were running, and the place we would end.

Thats why running is so fascinating to me. All walks of life come together for a few hours to accomplish something separate, but at the same time, accomplish something together. What i mean is that, its not weird to tell someone, “good race” or “good job out there” when you’ve never seen them before in your life. Its not weird because we all made it past the shin splints, the ankle rolling, the asthma attacks, the uphills, the downhills, the mental road blocks, the physical road blocks, and the bad song that someone made it to our playlist. For that one moment, all the sweat, blood, and maybe tears were worth it.

I can’t help to liken it unto that glorious day when at the end of the race of this life i hear, “Well done good and faithful servant” and all the cares and pains of this world will fade away and be remembered no more. I will look around and see people i encouraged and passed along the way, or, i will see the people who passed me and did the same. I will look at them and there will be no words to describe that moment. Then, i will smile because i know they are all thinking the same thing, we made it!

That day is still to come, but as for now i will keep running both literally and figuratively. I will welcome the pain and the soreness (again literally and figuratively). I love running, this i know, for my body tells me so.

And I’m pretty sure my body is going to be sore in weird places tomorrow, but that is okay with me!