• Magic of the Woods

    I was reminded for the millionth time how much I love nature while running the trails this morning. Spring has come enough that there’s so much green, the birds were signing, the squirrels and chipmunks were chirping and scurrying and the sun was shining between the tree trunks and leaves. It was magical!

    Which filled me up that out of my mouth came a mini song “I love nature!” That was it, but came out unprompted and spontaneous. Yet wasn’t out of the ordinary in my opinion.

    There’s just something about moving my body through the woods that speaks to my soul and calms my energy. I’m so grateful I have these woods so close to home that I can run and hike in. I feel home in them, which is pretty magical to have places like that I can return to.

    This picture captures a little bit of the magic I experienced today, but pictures can never do justice to the wonder of nature. But they can stir up memories and emotions of the moment, which are an adequate substitute for matters of the heart and soul.

  • Trail Run 4/27/24

    Read about this journaling concept of various levels of experiencing from Kening Zhu’s latest newsletter and I took that approach to my latest run in the woods on the trails of 9.5 miles. I enjoyed the experience of thinking about it through these lenses.

    External

    The sound of the wind in the trees, trees creaking in the wind, sun coming out from behind the clouds so rapidly like someone flipped a light switch, green showing up all over the forest, pink and white leaves and flowers, deer, turkeys, the bright blue color on the male turkey, almost stepped on a squirrel, rabbit.

    Inner Reactions

    strong, weak, self doubt, confidence, calm, connected, relief to finally have a strong run

    Inner Vision

    could I do this 3 more times?, running the trails with 2 of my dearest friends, grateful I met one of those friends in theses woods who ultimately introduced me to my wife

  • This Run

    Went for a 7 mile run while visiting the in-laws. So not my normal running route, but gotta make do with what I can. I was reminded as I was struggling a bit during the first half worrying about race day in August that how could I expect to run 31 miles if I was slugging through mile 2.

    Reminded myself that I wasn’t running for August, I was running for today. But today’s run would help me get to the start line for August. I can’t get to August race day if I’m not out here now.

    I’d love to say that snapped me out of it and the rest of my run was amazing, but that’s not the case. Overall it was good and I felt better than when I started.

    Running has taught me many things over the past 15+ years, but always good to get reminders like today’s lesson: only worry about this run right here. That’s all that matters.