The power of the run

Every Wednesdays night is run group. My friend Lisa and I meet with The Beach Chiropractic running group, a group in Wasaga Beach, at 7pm to run and then learn something. Tonight I didn't want to go. But, tonight also happens to be the last night of a 16 week session which means potluck night. Regardless, it's about 1 degree and snowy and dark and cold tonight. I've got a million things to do (report cards) and my legs are super sore from Monday's killer bootcamp. When we run we do a 5min warm up, then some stretching then 4 sets of 10 and 1s (run ten minutes, walk one) works out to about 45-50 minutes.

So as we start the warmup my inner thighs scream at me "we hurt!!!!" those darn squats...every time. And I'm cold. My fingers are cold (despite the mitts) and my neck and chin are exposed and cold. But somehow as the run went on it got better. Our first walk break was worse than running somehow (my legs...the pain). But our second walk break happened to be at the main end...beach area 1 that can be quite hectic in the summer but come fall it's a ghost town. It was dark and windy. The water was an inky black with beautiful white caps. The beauty of it was incredible. By then I also realized I was no longer cold, in fact I was starting to get too warm and regretting wearing a long sleeved shirt and a sweater and a jacket.

On the way back we had to take a few more walk breaks than planned as a friend was having some tummy troubles (don't we all know what this is like!) but in those quiet moments of walking I saw. I saw the quiet residential areas, the street lamps all in a row, the quiet snowflakes dancing about and it was so beautiful. 

It's crazy how a run can change your perspective so much.  My legs no longer hurt by the end, I wasn't cold, I wasn't miserable. I was thankful, I felt blessed, I felt happy and I felt strong. 

The power of the run. Why this is a lesson I must continually re learn each run. Why, I'm not sure. But a lesson I'm willing to learn.