Today my friend John and I went for a run with the intention of putting in 3-4 miles at just above 5k race pace. I was feeling good and just felt like I needed some speed. We started on a well groomed trail that follows along a long pond/stream near our hometown. We were clipping along just below 7min/mi pace, and I definitely felt in the zone and could tell I was getting a good release of endorphins. We had run this path before, but never gone all the way to the end. All of a sudden we turn a corner and the path opens up into a much wider and much more beautiful pond. We both kind of stopped dead in our tracks and just took in the unexpected site.
Our final destination
One of the things I love most about running is being able to discover something beautiful that I’ve never seen before, while improving my health and fitness. We decided that since this wasn’t too serious of a workout, plus I had a big race coming up this weekend that we would just jog around a little further and explore. We ended up finding a neat painted rock and climbed up top to pose for some pics. The whole area was pretty neat and we’ll definitely be back to just hang out and maybe swim later in the summer.
On the way back we ran faster than we normally would when just jogging together, but not as fast as on the way out to the pond. In the end we ended up logging just under 4 miles. I realized that one of the reasons I’ve fallen back in love with running over the past few months is because of the fun factor. Don’t get me wrong the competition of high school running was always fun for me, however I never really thought of the runs as something for me. I always thought of them as a workout I was required to finish. Today I thought my run would be more of a workout but in the end it just ended up being a really fun run with one of my best friends. This is why I’m running again, for myself, for my health, and most importantly because it’s FUN!
Just taking it all in
StarvingRunner 