This morning I woke to icy roads and a cold rain. It took me all morning to get motivated to go out and run. I finally left the house around noon. I ran the Ossipee River Trails with Scout. I've been putting in a lot of miles on the Leavitt Plantation trails lately so it was nice to be back on our own local trails.
Today I found out that I have been getting into good running shape without intending to. All those miles of exploring Parsonsfield over very hilly terrain has done wonders. I never even thought of it as training. That is how running is meant to be for me. It is an opportunity to enjoy the feeling of moving fast through the woods, to see, smell, and hear the Forest, to feel the trail beneath me, and to wonder what's around the next bend. It's the same for me with mountain biking. It sure doesn't feel like a work out or training. It brings me back to the way we all played as children. We played hard and stayed fit, but we never thought of it as exercise!
I know a lot of runners like the rewards of training. They want to see their times improve. They want to race to prove they are working hard enough. I have four big U-haul boxes full of a life time's worth of trophies, so I can't deny that this was what running was for me for a very long time. I might get back to that some day, or I might not. But for me right now, running is a joyous celebration, as is cross country skiing and mountain biking.
Today we ran all the Trails out there for a total of about 6 miles of single track. It was wet and slippery, but we ran fast and smooth. And we had a lot of fun!
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