dawnieruns

The freedom, the flight- the ability to think clearly when I need to, but also the choice of blasting out my thoughts with my ipod tunes in avoidance. I love what it does for my mind and body. Yes, the weight control, and yes, fitting into my clothes properly counts.The fresh face after a run, feeling alive and the feeling that, hey- I really deserve this sleep tonight :) I'm a respiratory/ventilator nurse (working per-diem right now) and have seen what unhappy lungs are like. I was a smoker myself 12 years ago. I struggled to jog back then- and I fought through the fatigue. I ran more- and smoked less... We run- our lungs are happy. They are unpolluted and elastic. We are lucky enough where we reside to breathe deeply, fresh air- most of the time :) Our circulatory systems function optimally, our heart rates and BP decrease due to less demand on the heart muscle, and our vessels function more like a fast throughway than a bottlenecking Arterial. On top of all that, I love other runners- and the camaraderie at the races really keeps me coming back. It's funny, there are so many people who hate even the thought of running, or even of jogging slowly! I can't imagine my life without it. My very first running injury (I am 35 years young!) came about over these last two months and man, it has been hard to accept my limitations. But I'm getting better every day. I am blessed because I can run in a wonderful area, knowing the neighbors and their dogs; knowing that if I were hurt, someone would come to my rescue. On days when I don't feel like scaling that hill, a neighbor may be walking and encourage me- they are usually not even aware that they are doing that- and I somehow make it up that hill . In both running on fresh packed snow and early morning summer runs- it keeps us all connected with nature, people, and even ourselves. We can tune into our body's rhythms, watch the clock, push ourselves one day or zone out completely, pound the pavement to Tom Petty...and just run. One neighbor yelled to me, "you are an inspiration..." and told me how she's begun to take steps in the right direction. I laugh to myself and think, "I'm just doing what comes natural to me!"- even if I'm not as fast or efficient as a was a few years ago. Back then I'd run the mile in 7:45 and didn't realize that one day I'd only be able to run it in 9 minutes. Aging a few years and gaining a few pounds does not help the situation. But I'm here- and I'm blessed, and I'm running - forever!