As most of you know, I’m an avid runner. What many of you may not know is I’ve been sidelined with injuries sustained while trying the devil-that-is-known-as-Crossfit for over two years. I went from running 30+ miles a week, averaging a 7:45-pace to being unable to run even a mile due to severe pain. I went to an ortho knee specialist. I had MRIs and xrays. I went to physical therapy for months. I stretched, I rested, I waited. Nothing helped. NOTHING. I felt like I was going to have to give up running, something I’ve been doing for over twenty years. Something that provides me not only with the physical release I need but the mental and emotional release as well. Running is my meditation, my zen. Finally, a friend recommended a physical therapist he’d been seeing and I went to see her. She had me running pain-free that very first visit. After six weeks of PT she dismissed me. I do daily exercises and I’ve had to completely learn to run again, this time learning to do it properly and correcting all the errors that came as a result of the injury I sustained. I’m up to running 2 miles, three times a week. This is a far cry from the near-daily 5-mile runs and the weekly 10-mile run I would log but I’m happy to be running again and I am slowly building up my endurance. With this return to running has also come the mental release I’ve been missing.

I’ve always preferred running in the morning. I love getting out when the world is still quiet and asleep, when the only other people I see on the trail are fellow runners and cyclists. This morning I laced up my shoes and headed outside, so incredibly grateful I was able to start my day with a run.

sunrise running

 

Morning Run

I run

in the early morning

when the sky hasn’t yet begun

to blush

with the sun’s color.

My breath

fills the quiet air,

the only sound before day break.

My feet slap a rhythm,

the crickets join in to accompany me.

When I finish, salty

with sweat, lungs heavy, legs burning,

the morning sun peeking

over the curve of the earth,

I am finally ready

to begin my day.