Same trails, different experiences

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No matter how many times I run the same trails I'm still in awe at the different experiences they present. Maybe it's just a matter of being present in the moment and the surroundings. Covering a long 22 mile loop last weekend, if I hadn't stopped to turn around and admire the new Dias Ridge trail I'd just climbed I wouldn't have seen the coyote some 20 yards away. And to find a new take on the dozens of photos I've already snapped of Pirates Cove on a morning thick and grey with fog? Brilliant.

Of course the usual thoughts are often there as well. I've only gone how many miles? Why does this feel so much slower than last time. What was that work email I forgot to send?

But whether alone or with friends, sorting out the tangle of thoughts in my head or tuning them out to the sounds that surround me, sometimes painfully, sometimes painlessly, I criss-cross the same trails for miles and hours and more miles and more hours; and when I'm lucky, I'm often rewarded. A problem resolved, one great photo, a chance wildlife encounter, a brilliant idea, a new goal, a new focus, shared conversation, passing a mountain biker on an uphill, nailing a downhill, running all of Marincello, an idea for a book, an idea for a blog.

You get the idea. It's like therapy and meditation and woman vs wild all in one trail run. You just never know what you'll walk away with.

Comments

Jessica said…
I wouldn't get ahead of yourself calling your ideas "brilliant". Valid, maybe. But brilliant? Awfully bold, don't you think? :-)
2:33 PM
Samantha said…
Jessica: I'm quite certain they are always brilliant. Like the ideas fueled by an afternoon of liquid decadence. Not that I always remember them but upon reflection, I settle on brilliant.
9:55 PM
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