Sometimes mileage and calories and heart rates aren't so important... even if at first you attempt to place a value on them. This afternoon, we filled up the Jeep and drove the forty-five minutes to the Medicine Bow National Forest in Wyoming, to go for a light trail run. While my brother-in-law, his girlfrined, their dog, and I were out running part of the Summit Loop, Anne and Greg were going to hike a smaller segment and take some photos (some of which I'll share when we return to the city, probably next weekend).
What is interesting to observe about travelling over a long distance is observing how the floor and landsacpe changes. Much different than were we are staying outside Cheyennne, this area in Wyoming is further West and much more mountain-like in appearance. When we got tou our trailhead, it was like being in a different part of the world, what with the conifers and such...
The trail run was fun and it was good to have conversation while running. The trails themself were incredibly well-maintained and nothing like the trails at home... oddly they were much more "civilized", due in no small part to the great amount of use they apparently receive from not just runners and hikers, but bicyclists and horses, as well.
I used this particular run as an opporunity not to run hard or fast but to tap into the energy of the area. I am often reminded that a good run need not be about having the best technical shirts or bottles or protien supplements, but it can be about feeling that sense of self in the place in which you are moving at that specific point in time. It is a beautiful thing to be many thousand miles from home and tap into that "it," which is accessible no matter were you physically are...
In just a few days we will be on are way to Fort Collins, Colorado for the start of the Wild West Relay...
Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!
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