Rhythm of the Body

Yesterday I wanted to try something a little different.

If I go for a run outside versus at the gym, I always take this trail behind my house that's one mile to a nice little park situated on Bellingham Bay. It's an easy run, flat and beautiful between trees with a wall of green on my left and the Bay on my right. It's especially beautiful right now because we're transitioning from winter to spring (so, so, so, slowly) and the birds are starting to make their presence more visible.

So yesterday when I was getting ready for my run to the park and back, I was planning on my first two mile run without stopping when I got to the park. Normally I'll just run to the park, walk around the park, and then run back. Yesterday I wanted to not stop, just to see how doable it was. I also wanted to try listening to my body.

I left my iPod in my backpack, at home, on purpose. I decided that instead of listening to that heart and head pounding bass, I would listen to my heart pounding and the thoughts in my head. And honestly, it was almost nicer than music. I could hear and regulate my breathing. I could settle on a pace that wasn't attached to a tempo coming through my ears. Just me and the rhythm of my own body.

And I did the run, without stopping, two miles. That last quarter of a mile was a battle of willpower; my mind telling me yes and my body telling me no. I knew my body was the wrong player in this argument though. I've run two miles in the gym before, I already knew I could do this before I started. But as I was in that last quarter mile, I started thinking about the tornadoes that just happened in the east and south parts of the US.

I read a story early yesterday morning about a woman who saved her two children's lives by crouching over them as their house blew away around them. She had to have both her legs amputated, but she lived, and so did her children, unscathed. She's never going to run with her own legs again. I have two legs that work just fine, and they wanted to stop running because they're a little tired. But they were fine. I was fine. I kept running. And not to sound all cheesy, but that last quarter of a mile, all I could think about was that I was running for her. For that mom who just gave up basically half her body for her kids.

Think of all the people who can't do what you can do! And we complain because we don't want to walk to x, y, or z. But we complain because we're tired and there are easier and more convenient ways to get there than walking. Ultimately though, your body is yours and you can do things that you probably think you can't do. You just need to realize that you have the potential to do them.