November 28, 2017
When I’m running alone, I don’t always have a set plan where I’m going to go… depends on how I feel, the weather, whether it is light out yet or not, etc. This is one reason my husband has encouraged me to recently start using Strava. If you aren’t familiar, it’s an app for running or biking that ‘maps your run,’ giving you statistics, lets you share with others, and also allows for friendly competition with other fellow athletes. I however, do not use it for any of those reasons – lol – I use it so my husband can track me using the ‘safety beacon’ option, allowing him to see that I ended up running in a different direction than where I originally may have intended. I’m thankful for this feature because it does make me feel safer when I run. It also gives him the opportunity to message me while I’m running and encourage me or make some sort of funny comment. *creeper*
Anyway, I set out for my early morning run that began by taking my normal route around town until I decided I couldn’t really stand to run around town for the entire 6 miles this morning…so I headed slightly out of town, turned onto another less traveled street and intended to turn around at the last street light—beyond that was quite dark and I had no intentions, initially, of going any further. It may sound like I’m scared of the dark… but I will admit I’m totally scared of skunks (we’ll save that for another day). After turning around at said street light, now facing a different direction, I caught a glimpse of what looked like a potentially beautiful sunrise. I went a few more paces and thought, if I turn around and head back up that hill (into the dark) I’m sure I could see a beautiful sunrise at the top, overlooking the town. It took a few more steps to convince myself it would be worth it, then turned around and decided to go for it. I had never run up this direction before, let alone in the dark. Thankfully dawn was quickly approaching and I knew I had to get moving if I was going to reach the top to see the sunrise.
About half way up the hill I get a text from Chris, ‘you picked a pretty big hill to run up this morning’… Yes, yes, I guess I did. My legs were burning but the sun was starting to peek up and set the base of the sky on fire; like all the other times I’ve found myself chasing a sunrise, you tend to forget or pay little attention to anything else. It was a Win-Win – a good work out climbing the hill and the sky over the little view of the town was quite pretty. Thankfully I was able to enjoy it further, as the colors of the sky continued to intensify as I reached the bottom of the hill and headed in an eastward direction towards home. I love the mornings I get to chase a sunrise; it makes me feel so thankful that I got out of bed and had the opportunity, ability, dedication, willpower, endurance, etc. to run! I wouldn’t have wanted to miss it…
Runner With A Hunger 