First Run Taking Pictures

I ran for the first time today since the Wrightsville Beach Marathon.  My Garmin lost power when I began because I hadn't charged it since the night before the race.  I was happy to be moving again albeit at a slow pace.  This short run felt just right.  I laced up my lightweight Muzino shoes that had been in a box for nearly a year.  The first and last time I ran in them, I did speed work on hills.  Dumb.  I ended up with shin splints for weeks and a fear of wearing those shoes.  I decided to take a chance today on this easy run.  We'll see how my legs feel later in the week. 

As I headed out the door, I decided this would be my first blog entry about my experiences while running, and I grabbed my i-Phone.  I've contemplated this for a while now.  I wrote a blog when I chronicled my adventures with my oldest daughter when she was two-years-old.    Looking back, that blog reminds me of the busyness I infused into our lives.   And, that is probably what led to the end of my blogging.  

I'm ready to try it again because my head seems full of thoughts that I need to get out of my head.  When I run alone, my mind is free to wander and muse on any number of things.  When I run with friends, I am energized to keep going by our conversations.  If I'm wrestling with something internally, these conversations can be a great way for me to continue exploring a topic or define my current views.  My most recent conversations with myself and others on runs have been about religion and politics.  I had been frustrated with points contained within these two topics for weeks.  Then I ran 26.2 miles last week, and it seemed to relieve me of the mental exhaustion.  I don't plan to revisit where I have been in this blog and look forward to what I might discover during upcoming runs.   I run with several special friends and groups and will let them know about my new blogging activities.  When I joined one group last year, they told me that what is said on the run, stays on the run.  I will not gossip or reveal secrets within my musings here.  

Now, about that i-Phone.  Part of the beauty of running for me is getting to notice things along the way.  I want to capture a little of that beauty during my runs on my phone's camera and preserve it here.   Additionally, I want to learn some new technical skills, and working on a photo a day could help me in that area.  In January I attended a session at MacWorld on turning i-Phone photos into works of art using apps.  I want to be able to do that.  It will be a long, slow process.  When I run in the dark, do speed work, or run with groups, it will be a challenge to take a picture during a run.  So, I will give this all a try and see where it goes.