Bringing Happy Back with 15 Miles

When I opened the door Saturday morning, I felt the cool air, and my heart leaped.  This is a promising start for a long run, I thought.  My next thought was that I wouldn't have an excuse for sluggish performance.   For the past week, the temperatures were just below 70 degrees, which felt like a reprieve; the temperature on this morning, hovering just over 60 degrees, was chilly in comparison.

I arrived at the trail with one plan in mind to tackle 15 miles with the merging of two different groups, but I settled on a different plan of attack and saw many friendly, familiar faces along the way.  With the cooler temperatures the ATT came to life with a crowd I hadn't seen and an excitement I  hadn't experienced since early Spring.  When our group of five women set out amid other training groups, I flashed back to my Wilderness Road Girl Scout Camp days, most specifically eagerly walking through the woods on a gravel road with friends toward early morning activities.

Several cross country teams shared the trail with us, and my Kentucky friends might find it interesting  that I ran the trail with the Duke women's cross country team.   Their coach followed them on a bike during what must have been a warm up, and then they sprinted impressively with ease.  I began to feel old and slow.  Just then a passing group of high school boys encouraged my group by calling out, "Good job!" They meant it, and I needed to hear it.

Besides the temperature and the excitement, this morning was welcoming in another way. On the busy trail, I focused on dodging or being dodged by others and our conversation about home improvements.  During the week,  I ran mostly alone, and was absorbed in negative thoughts about Todd Akin, the republican vice presidential pick, the power of a few men, and the voices of women.   I wrestled with whether or not to update my blog because of my anger and the rant that I was about to unleash.  On this day I was happy being carefree for a while and affirming my strength after feeling angry for too many days.