Observations of a Distracted Runner

This morning I went on a run. Finally.

It’s not that I haven’t been working out. I have. I climb a nearly 45-degree hill numerous times a day plus hundreds of stairs on top of that if I don’t have the patience to wait for the elevator. I seldom do—it’s way too slow.

I knew last night I wanted to run in this morning and purposefully get some exercise.

I set my alarm for 8:00 and eventually rolled out of bed around at little before nine.

After pulling on my work out clothes I left my dorm and took the numerous flights of stairs to reach the bottom level so I could go outside.

Then I started running. I had no idea where I was going but I ran down the hill away from my dorm.

I ended up running along Salmon Bay, which flows from Lake Union. It was beautiful and the perfect temperature to run. Plus, it wasn’t raining which made it even better. The weather as of late has been gorgeous, so now I’m going to be even more disappointed when it starts to get continuously gloomy.

My IPod shuffle was randomly playing songs and it started out with some of La Roux’s music. Her music is very quick paced, and before I knew it I had gone rather far.

The path on which I was running possessed many different benches facing the water. I sat down at a few of them, admiring the view and feeling the stillness of the morning on my skin.

Suddenly I was tempted to sit down at every single one. Though I was looking at the same water from every bench, the feeling was always slightly different depending on where trees were located, whether or not I was in the shade, or how close I was to water’s edge. I could have spent all morning sitting at all of them and deciding which one was my favorite and why.

However, I continued to run and I said hello to whoever was running the other way. The pastor from my home church talked about community during a sermon once and he said it always makes a difference to say hello to someone when you are out walking or running. Which is why I always say hello to people on my runs. Or wave. (I really like waving. Ask any of my close friends.)

When I finally decided I should turn back, the music on my IPod had switched to the opposite end of the spectrum from La Roux. Louis Armstrong was singing in his husky jazzy voice and I discovered I was more content to listen to him and be relaxed while I run instead of trying to always match the beat of La Roux’s dance music.

I passed a day care with the coolest looking playground I’ve ever seen. Not because of an awesome jungle gym, but because it was pretty much a giant sand box/nature yard. Lucky kids, that’s so much cooler than a typical playground.

When I made it back onto campus I remembered I still had a hill to run back up.

I guess it was too beautiful for me to mind much, even in my exhausted state.

And the hill really isn’t a bad thing.

I’ll have awesome legs because of it.