being speedy

I know I'm not the fastest runner. I've made my peace with that...but there are times when I feel fast, even super-fast.

1. The wind rushing in my ears.

I love not running with an iPod. Sure, there are times when having some music would be helpful, especially on runs longer than 6 or 7 miles (there are only so many thoughts that can keep a girl occupied on a 75 minute run). And yesterday morning, an iPod would have been nice, because it would have gotten the song stuck in my head out of my head. Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun, please shine down on me....only I changed the lyrics to "please don't shine on me" since that's what Mr. Sun was doing, in blazing awesomeness, much too hot at 9:00 in the morning.

However, without an iPod, when I run, I hear the wind. Not the wind made by the rotation of the earth...this is wind created by me. I run, and the air rustles past my ears, sometimes in very noisy fashion. I love it. I feel as if I'm running at the speed of wind, as if my feet have turned into wings and I'm soaring along the asphalt.

2. I startle small animals.

This is also one reason I love running outdoors, not on a dreadmill. If you are on a dreadmill, you will not see a groundhog, or a squirrel, or a bunny rabbit. Outside, I come across little critters often. A lot of time, I'm not even sure which of God's creatures I've disturbed with my fleet-footedness. I just hear this quaking in the underbrush along the roadside, see the yellow dandelions and purple wildflowers tremble in the wake of the fleeing critter. I love this because, if a car zooming by at 43 mph doesn't disturb the little guy, but me trotting by does, then I must be going really, really fast!