Autumn country lane

As the weather changes and I start completing more long runs towards my next marathon I can’t help but to start rediscovering some old familiar feelings. It’s almost like seeing an old friend. Those friends who you only see once a year or for special occasions. It brings back all the memories of previous years.

I can’t stop thinking about those cool crisp autumn mornings. The sound of the empty country lanes. Complete silence except for the noise of my own shoes and some animals being startled by my presence.

Those early morning weekend long runs. The smell of recent rain and the faint heat emanating from the morning light. The pace is lively and I feel light, energetic. Through the naked trees on either side of the lane I glimpse a view of an empty field still wet from the morning dew and a cool deep breath fills my lungs with fresh air giving me a sense of well-being and harmony.

All the niggles and pains disappear and are replaced with excitement and positiveness. Thoughts are clearer than ever and everything seems to make sense again. It genuinely is one of the best feelings I can possibly experience.

For me running is not only about one thing. I don’t do it for a simple reason. I did a while back. When I started running it was mainly to lose weight. There was a very clear reason and objective. A binary choice.

The only enjoyment from those early days was the possibility of seeing the cruel scales being a bit kind to me. The only hope was that all the sacrifices would pay off in the daily weight judgement. I’m glad those days are behind me. Not so much about having to manage my weight (which requires more of a lifestyle adjustment) but more about seeing running as a necessary evil.

Over the years running has helped me hone different aspects of my personality, good ones and bad ones. It has helped me discover emotions in situations I didn’t think possible. It has helped me discover a new passion. A new skill. A new world.

I find training for a race is only a small part of running. Running a specific time over a particular distance is only one way of measuring speed. I don’t believe in such things as good runners or bad runners. Running is running. At whatever level. In fact running is not about being fast.

If you asked any elite runner about what they are most grateful from running or about their fondest memories in running I suspect more often than not they would answer with experiences. With moments they lived and shared with others. With sacrifices. With human emotions. I suspect their answers would be exactly the same as if you asked a 55 minute 10k runner.

I personally can approach running in hundreds of different ways. I can strive for pain through mental and physical endurance, I can challenge myself competitively, I can look forward to a relaxing run as an excuse for catching up with a good friend, I can run to get me back into fitness after injury or after some time off. And one of my favourites, I can enjoy the sense of peace and balance I get during an autumnal early morning long run through country lanes.

And I wouldn’t change that for the world.