And I Ran, I Ran So Far Away

Running is something I have turned to off and on for the last 14 or so years of my life.  I spent my senior year in high school getting in really good shape.  I still look back at the pictures of myself when I moved into the dorm freshman year and am in awe of that body.  I spent the 5 years of college pretty much ignoring all forms of working out except for the occasional trip to the gym or run around campus.  Dancing on Thursday night and Saturday night kept my metabolism up and my waistline down.  Then I graduated and took a desk job.  Running was pretty much non-existant for a couple of years.  Then I decided I could run a half marathon; I trained; I did it.  Then I did another one.  Then my running partner moved to Florida.  I would run off and on, but nothing serious.

So, here I am now.  30.  Chubby.  Living in a flat city.  Seriously, I lived on top a hill my entire life.  Do you know what that means?  That means that every. single. run. I went on ended with an uphill climb.  Not cool.  But I did it.  So now I have the ability to run without the incline.  So I have started running again.  And I forgot how much I enjoy it, most of the time.  I love that I am free of computers and cell phones and stupid questions inquisitive people.  I do not run with an iPod.  I do not carry my cell phone.  It's just me and nature, as God intended.  I love to listen to the sounds around me and for the only voices to be those in my head.  I love that I can either listen to the sounds of the praise music in my head or I can talk to God or I can listen to Him talk to me.  

And you want to know the irony of it all?  I run on the Ravenel Bridge once a week and I run better there than I do on the flat lands.  Go figure.