My neighborhood running route – Paskapoo Slopes, Calgary

[twitter]I love standing in the shower, for 15 minutes, 20 minutes, or more.

I can stand there, head leaning on the far wall, back facing the stream, for what feels like forever. It’s my happy, quiet place.

I think. I write. I dream. I imagine. I create.

The shower is where I come up with some of my best ideas – but it’s not the only place.

The other place I can clear my mind, or at least take the things running around in there and shuffle them into a semblance of order, is on a run.

I’m back in the swing training for a Team Diabetes Marathon next year and oh boy, have I missed this place, this peace, this time.

The loops of Paskapoo Slopes these past 2 weeks have been wonderfully quiet and beautiful with nothing but my heaving breathing as a metronome to keep my pace. As I run, I get lost, not on the golden autumn trails, but in my head. Just as I drift and dream and wander in my mind in the shower, I do the same when I run.

I write blog posts, I think of bits for my radio show, I think about my kids and what kind of parent I am, I organize vacations, I do meal planning. And it’s all wonderfully soothing. It’s the kind of meditation that I have missed, I need, and I crave.

I get uptight when I sit still, I must be doing. So when I throw on a new pair of shoes and get out the stress bleeds away just 2 blocks from my home.

I feel a pang of shame when I get up early on Sunday mornings to go to Charlie’s skating or Zacharie’s soccer and pass people running. “I can do that, I should be doing that,” I accuse myself with buckets of self-inflicted guilt.

And so, as much as it hurts my lungs and heart to drag my heavy body around the course, I smile when I’m out running. It’s the smile that is not of accomplishment, but of try. Of effort. It’s a proud smile that acknowledges I’m doing something about something.

I run to escape from routine and find one in my head. It’s wonderful, and even though I have just half a dozen runs under my built this fall, it feels so good to get lost in my thoughts and escape.

I can lose myself and then find myself again, all in the span of half an hour. That’s why I run.

Why do you run? How are you getting back into a routine this fall. Where do you like to #sweatforthis?

New shoes also help to inspire a good run. I’m wearing Adidas Ultra Boost in my training this fall and these are, without question, the snuggest, cushiest, most comfortable ride I’ve ever worn. Thanks Sport Chek for inspiring me to #SweatForThis.

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