“A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true.”— Attributed to Greg S. Reid
I got up today, threw on some tights and a shirt, laced up my sneakers, and ran out the door. It didn’t matter that it was wet. It didn’t matter that it was suddenly cooler. It didn’t matter that my heel still hurt and my back was still sore. It didn’t matter for a hundred reasons. It mattered only that today is D-day. On any given day, I could give a reason as to why I wouldn’t run, shouldn’t write, couldn’t make the time. But today is not that day. Today, I’ve determined to take one step in the direction of my dreams, forgetting the days behind me and looking ahead to the possibilities wrapped up in all that’s before me. I will not waste another day in the I -will-get-to-it-soon camp.
You see, there are a dozen reasons and hundreds of excuses for procrastinating. I’ve been there, done that, and it doesn’t make getting the thing that needs to be done any easier. Akin to that dig-deep feeling you get when you’re running and tired and you’d love to call it quits and just stop but somehow and from somewhere you feel resilience bubbling up – and like a phoneix rising from the ashes -you’re able to shake it off, fan those wings into a flame and burn a path to the finish line. It must be the runner in me but I have this desire to get back on the trail of my passion for writing about my health and fitness journey. Gratefully, technology makes it hella easy to just dive in. For unlike the “ole” days when I would quite literally take pen to paper, I only grab my phone, find a corner and some silence, thumb out a few words, and voila, today is d-day! The thing about falling off a routine is that it’s actually way easier that most of us anticipate. All it takes is no accountability and some procrastinating and pretty soon it’s a thing I used to do that I’ll get back to soon and almost two years later you’re like me wondering how the heck did I fall off the blog. Truth is I know what happened, life did. Life happens to us all. In fact, it’s happening right now. You and I, we’ve got choices and decisions to make daily that will either take us in the direction we want to go or not. I won’t bore you with past choices, but I will tell you that today I choose to write and I have every intention on going for a run tomorrow. It won’t pay to get too ambitious, so I’ll leave it there for now.
Back to the run today though, it was the best kind – easy and pretty or pretty easy. I ran 2.5 miles to the gym, worked out, and then ran back home. Running in Georgia in the Fall season can’t compare with New York at all. The weather is so much warmer in these parts thankfully, mostly, I think, so I can run at midday and feel pretty good. It was a gorgeous sunny day, mild really, so I was able to stop on the way home to grab a couple of pics and appreciate the Fall foliage. I ran past farms and lots of greenery with some construction and traffic tossed in for good measure – and for a few minutes I could have almost imagined I was back in the big apple, zigzagging crazily to avoid ending up as road carnage. I ended up taking to the brush to keep pace and the lack of sidewalks reminded me that running in suburban Georgia is at my own risk. No matter, I won’t be thwarted. This city runner knows how to get around anywhere and everywhere is fair game when you’re low on options. And, well, let’s just say there are no commuter trains out here. No worries tho, I have feet that’ll take me where I want to run and then there’s biking around. The rest we’ll figure out I expect.
And that goes for writing too. I have a few ideas bubbling around that I’d like to mix and match with running.
Let’s see how I do.
Thanks for reading. I can’t wait to share more!
Fast forward to today, 2 days post Christmas already, when I took off on a run to the tune of beautiful sunshine and Fall in full bloom despite the official start of winter a few days ago.
Fall in Georgia brings to mind 
acorns, more acorns, spanish moss, lots of colors, the best running temps, and peaches of course – well it should, except I have yet to see any on my runs. Peach cobbler, on the other hand, runs aplenty in the georgian diet for those interested. No matter the lack of peaches, I’m in seventh heaven running in these parts especially on the trails and along the less traveled paths. It always takes me back to when I first came here some thirteen years ago. A bit of a star-gazer back then, still am, I was more wont to run and dream. I mean running makes everything better right. Every dream is more possible, goals seem more probable, thoughts become crystalized and even plans take flight with these steps. Running amidst the pine cones and spanish moss sure birthed a lot of possibilities that had a lot of potential. In fact, it’s where my first idea to run the New York City marathon germinated. Now, four of those and sixteen others later, I have to say running in these parts even today, sure does feel a bit magical still.
Running through my old 
neighborhood, and a few new ones, makes me appreciative of the differences in topography -gentle slopes makes for easy running – and boy do I appreciate sidewalks a whole lot more. I also enjoy the quiet and scenery a lot while running, it’s really a treat for the eyes, and so I’m able to fully appreciate the running experience here while being thankful for what I have in New York. I am tickled to run around my old stomping grounds and love stopping for photos of the most picturesque and memorable scenes I’m able to capture on my phone. I’m having so much fun visiting old running haunts and finding new ones and hope to add a few more miles to my 2020 mileage before I leave on Friday.
I think it’s important, given all the angst we have with how things have progressed over the past nine months, to finish off this year with purpose and passion and nothing quite does that for me like running does.
In these final days of 2020, I will focus on the wonderful things I enjoy and the good things about my life and about our world. It is no secret that running and my faith in God continues to keep me. I pray it keeps you too.
The morning after is Running time. Though there was no over-eating for me, I judiciously followed my after-Christmas-Day-tradition. It was up and running about 9am for a couple of hours at one of my favorite running spots. At Brookfield Park, I revelled in the sounds of nature and the cool breeze and kiss of sunshine. I felt like nature responded to my deep sense of appreciation as the sky appeared bluer, the birds sang merrier, the rustle of the leaves were louder and the fall colors (still evident) were brighter, even the sun was hotter and that was ok..it’s Georgia’s merry christmas and I love running it. I’m pretty sure the local folks wonder at my over-enthusiasm but I always feel right at home as there are other like-minded runners out – enthusiasm a bit tapered maybe – but we rock running all the same and that’s all that matters.
runningwithfaith 