I Ran Today (14)

This is about running…but it’s also not about running

“I’m talking about running…but I’m also not talking about running.” ~ Chris Bennett, Nike Run Coach

I’ve run 22 different guided runs on the Nike Run Club app since I started running again and I’ve heard this phrase from Coach Bennett in at least a third of them. It’s a phrase that is said any time there is a running tip that can double as a life lesson. And that’s the entire point of me writing these entries. I’m writing about running…but I’m also not writing about running.

I’m working through a lot of shit on my runs, not just physical pains and fatigue. Honestly, the physical stuff is a very small portion of what I’m working through on each run. There have been a lot of nights in the past month and a half where I’ve found myself tearing up under a specific street light in my neighborhood. Sometimes it’s sadness from whatever I was working through on the run. Sometimes it’s joy. Sometimes it’s just appreciating the beauty of an Arizona night.

Each time, I take that path through the neighborhood, I think about just sitting down on the curb under the light and letting it all out. I know the day will come when I eventually do. I just hope it won’t be the moment some punk high schoolers drive past and get a video of the…