Sunday, December 30, 2007

The Perfect Run


Wow. What a run today. The perfect run.

Yesterday, four of us ran at WyCo on the Run Toto Run course. I ran only one 10.35-mile (hilly) loop. The snow was deep and and the surface underneath was soft. The company and conversation were good. I wanted to run longer, but I wanted to save some of myself for Sunday.

Sunday, for some reason, was the "perfect" run. I was the only one to show up at the Clinton Lake North Shore trails. The snow was soft powder on top. The temperature was 20 degrees (F).

The Blue Trail had had some traffic and resultant tracks...but the White Trail only had one person's tracks, so I was busting new snow half the time. I had forgotten my water bottle belt, so I decided to do only 15 miles, instead of 17+. Three hours without water is about as far as I'll push it, and I'll be doing a 50K in two days, anyway.

While I was running, I saw the normal deer here and there, but was also rewarded with the sight of a pair of Bald Eagles flying together. The sun was out, burning-away the ice fog, and the contrast between the white of the snow, the sun, blue sky, and mist (here and there) was unbelievably beautiful.

For some reason, I felt almost euphoric on this run, right from the start. Every step was effortless. My heart rate stayed fairly low for the amount of effort it takes to run on a trail with snow like that...but it didn't even rise more than five beats/min. on the up-hills! I swear that it was almost like I was gliding along on cloud. It was almost like an out-of-body experience. Maybe I was just overcome by the sheer beauty of it all. I didn't want for this run to be over with.

I wish that all runs were like this. I hope you experience the same.

Peace and Happy Trails,
Bad Ben

2 comments:

onepinkfuzzy said...

happy new year!!!

Travis said...

This sounds great! I hit the trail after a fresh snow and in some parts was the first set of tracks to disturb the ground. It was really still out and bright. I pulled the headphones out and just appreciated the scenery. Happy New Year Ben!!!