It doesn’t matter if it’s an old blacktop road or the side walk in the city limits. As soon as I put my ear buds in and turn the volume up just loud enough to drown out the noise around me, I become entranced with my own thoughts. For the first few minutes I let the music take over my mind, letting the lyrics paint pictures in my head. When the timing is just right, I allow my mind to switch gears and the music starts to fade into the background as my thoughts start to come forth on the reason why I decided to go on this run.
I run to free my mind, to let go of the stress that is weighing on my shoulders and is inhibiting me from focusing on the task I may be working on. Half the time when I go on runs I don’t count the minutes or miles because it’s easier to go on a run than to let the stress build up and explode like a ticking time bomb.
I lose focus on how long I have been running until my legs start to feel like jell-o and I feel the sweat dripping from my forehead. It doesn’t bother me though, because I feel relaxed and my mind is slowly becoming less cluttered with racing thoughts. When I start to hear the music through my ear buds again that'a when I know the thoughts that once consumed my mind have been sorted through and I am ready to go back to work on the task I left behind.
It doesn’t matter where I am running, once my mind is clear I slow down and start to walk. That’s when I notice the noise of the cars racing down Locust Street trying to make it to their next destination or the children laughing as they run around the school yard down the street from Ambrose. When I am home that’s when I notice the beautiful silence as I walk down the blacktop road and I notice the tree line against a freshly plowed field. I’m a bystander in moments like these, when my mind is clear and everything seems so peaceful. Sometimes it feels like I’m frozen in that moment and the world around me is racing about.
It’s weird to explain how a simple action, such as running, can make me feel free. It’s almost like a reset button for the moment I’m in-being able to take a step back, breathe and relax. I am able to go over different perspectives and ideas when looking at situations. Running is an escape from a busy life. Minutes to myself, just to be by myself, running at my own pace and getting a workout in- is the best of both worlds for me.
