A Running Path-os

Summer, it makes me forget how running fixes everything. The heavy air, a wet blanket wrapped around my head, the lead in my legs and the insufferable sun-- all weighing me down; sucking the joy out of my routes like a drought does water out of a reservoir.

But then here, a few days before the Autumnal equinox, I feel the air break. Suddenly, I am lighter. Unburdened, I can almost taste fall--dry leaves, brisk air, and wind. Unexpectedly, like a summer storm, it embraces me--the magic run; the endorphin fix I've been waiting for. 

For sure, it is a temporary band aid for this forever healing wound. Only to be ripped off each day from the stress and the toil of the work day. It is a bandage  that I willing reapply at the end of the day-- and sometimes in the morning too. A prophy-lactic acid fix. 

 It is the best part of the day. 

After that double book-ended crawl on Johnson's Ferry, peeling off my work clothes and replacing my heels with light weight trainers I bolt out the door the same way I use to when I was 9:  just off the school bus and running down the road to meet my friends and roam the neighborhood. 

Now, I chase the sun. Catching the last bit of daylight before all the colors turn to dark and stars and glowy moon. The temperature and the humidity drop and I feel like finally, I can breathe. So I drop the pace and go for breathless, rushing home to my family, a better person. 

9 miles. It fixed the day.

And I just wanted to say that I am still here.

Putting one foot in front of the other with relentless, forward motion.