One look

I was scheduled to run eight miles so I headed out and was supposed to turn back at mile four to complete the eight on the return.  I didn't turn at four or at four and a half.  I went on and ran until mile five and then turned.  I had my misgivings about doing that.  I was going to push when I was thinking I shouldn't be pushing but I did it anyway.  It wasn't until I was approaching mile seven on the way back that I knew, I knew, I should have stuck to the miles that were scheduled.  I was getting sluggish and knew the accumulated miles of the entire few weeks and month where deciding to gang up on me right there at mile seven.  I still had three more to go.  I took it a little slower and then turned my head to the left.  I saw what you can see there on the left and I thought to stop and pause for just a moment.  This is the place, this is the time to take a deep breath and realize that I didn't put myself out there just for the miles I can run.  It's not only about distances.  It certainly isn't about exercise.  It's for sights like these.  The one to the left.  That sight that I would never have had a chance to see at that particular time, at that motion of the clouds, at that particular opening of the wildflowers when I was feeling so slight and sluggish.

It's the reason I go out there and call it Runners Haven.  It is about the fact that there are other runners there when I go and bands of cyclists rushing past.  It is because it is quiet and peaceful and has some of the best views you can imagine passing.  This is just one.  It was somewhere close or past my mile seven yesterday when I was feeling like it was a long way back to my car.  It was what I needed.  That small pause because I was tired but I could have stopped anywhere and instead it was this view that caught my eye and made me stop long enough to grab a picture.  It was enough time to take it in, enjoy the sight, and then keep on going.  I knew there were other sights coming up along the three miles I had left and it wasn't long before I completed the ten miles.

Isn't this place great?

TT