While I have had various levels of interest in running over the years, I am often reminded of what a blessing it is to be able to do it. To spend time outside with just my shoes and the ground below my feet. To explore new places each time we move.
1) In Long Beach, NY we had the boardwalk. It was more of a senior citizen community, so the wooden slats were mine for the taking. Open air and splashing salt water to the left, tall beachfront apartment buildings at my right. Winter scared me inside many of the months we lived there and I regret that.
2) Brooklyn held many running memories. I ran around Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. It held broken headstones that were swallowed up by the earth. Sneaking glances at the dates through a wrought iron fence I noticed some dating back to the 1830's. My lack of historic knowledge (and interest) limited my ability to appreciate the lives that once lived where I strode. This was a time my husband ran with me around the dead. He pointed to the tallest obelisk and made me laugh at how he insisted he have one on his grave when he dies. Once he sprinted ahead while I planned to make a desperate pit stop to use a restroom at a shabby gas station across the street. I see a 'one-way' street sign and step one foot onto the street without breaking my pace. I hear a car horn blaring loudly and my body somehow falls instinctively backwards. As if a giant belt tugged me away from my next step before my mind could process what was happening. The car whizzed past me so close I swear my shirt brushed against the side of the car door. It was not a one-way road! That moment I was most shaken while running.
3) We took to running at Prospect Park next. This is where my husband trained for many half-marathons and I joined him for his latter loops of his training routine. There are many trees and the scenery is similar to Central Park (same designer). We would pass concerts, drum circles, family reunions, and soccer games. The night we ran that was most distinctive to me was an evening thunder storm that began well into our run. We were 2 miles from home and there was no possible shortcut. We could only run faster as the rain poured and thunder clapped. I think I started an argument that evening (not sure of the topic), but I will never forget it because that was the evening of September 10th, 2001.
4) In Westchester we found a lovely duck pond, but would not run together often. Mike ran distances far from home as he trained for marathons. It is, in fact, where we lived when we had our son. I did get my jogging stroller. I did not, however, run until several months after I gave birth. It took a running buddy to suggest meeting each morning before I started seriously running again on a regular basis. We took some roads by the million dollar homes and through the path that lead us around the duck pond. The scenery was what one would see in a children's book. Ducks and ducklings crossing our path, elderly couples walking hand in hand, and children learning to ride bikes. I shed all of my pregnancy weight and never though I could feel so good!
5) In California Mike has found a canal with friendly neighbors greeting us with each step. I see the sky in all directions and always smile at the bright blue hue. I pass school yards with the sport of the season in pursuit. Backyards with the aroma of garlic from one, dogs barking from another. A long pond, tall grass and trees on one leg of the trek.
One Saturday we went to The Lafayette Resevoir. We round a big lake, hills and valleys surrounding us, and find the path to be bumpy towards the end of the route. I can't find the best place to stop and take a picture that would fully represent how magnificent it is to view the green and golden land. Select tree tops along the way look to be frosted with autumn red. The best part is the reward at the end: a castle-looking playground! Zane loves it, he gets to pop out of his jogging stroller and play until he is weary.
There is much more to explore and terrain to cover. While I currently do not run great distances, it is a great reward to be a runner with the gift of fresh air and natural beauty around to drink in.
