Sunday, September 23, 2007

i can't explain it

it was such a beautiful day today. i love september in new york. it is still warm, but there is a crisp edge to the air that lets us know that something else is on the way. and today was the kind of day that makes me want to soak up the world a little more than i usually do.

i've been feeling sort of down lately, so i headed out to enjoy the sun. i'm not sure what it is-- maybe the transition from school to a full time job, or the fact that work has been utterly insane for the past two weeks. perhaps it's the other personal stuff i've been letting get to me a little too much. i thought a walk in the park might help. i visited a friend in connecticut yesterday, and getting out of the city did me a world of good. it was lovely to be somewhere else, and to be with someone familiar who gets me. still, i haven't fully relaxed in awhile, so i needed some time to myself. i can't say 'alone' because it's difficult to ever really be alone when there are people everywhere.

anyway,when i got to the park and started walking around the loop, something came over me. i ignored the tweak i've been feeling in my knee for the past few days and took off. i don't think i've run that fast since suffering through speed intervals last fall. shockingly, nothing hurt and i felt light on my feet. usually i clomp along rather ungracefully, but not today. i think i just needed to go, to push through everything i've been feeling, to get lost in the music on my ipod. i can't explain the compulsion i felt, or exactly what i was running away from, but that loop around the park made me feel so much better. it's amazing how that happens. i'm so glad i've found running as an outlet. what do the nonrunners do? :)