The Sunday Run

So I said I would write more and I have not...but I have been running. The past two weeks have been a little off with travel and the heat but I am back and committed. There really is NOTHING like the Sunday run despite what I might feel to the contrary sometimes.

Sure, I would love to indulge a little more on Saturday nights...sleep in Sunday and just hang out out. Maybe a nice breakfast or brunch would be on the agenda. But really, getting up early, like 5:00 am, when all else is quiet...is the best.

I wish I could do this on a workday.

So I meet up with the group and even though many of them are late, (a huge pet peeve of mine, and a flat out disrespect for those that do show up on time!!! Okay, I'll stop now and write about this topic later) I look forward to the next 2 hours we will have together working towards the same goal....GETTING DONE. The run always starts off the same with small talk, a few jokes and a general consensus that we do not want to be there. However, this conversation is the perfect ebb and flow that we need to get us through the first two or three miles.

From there, things seem to digress...depending on what the run is that day. If its an easy day, the jokes and all of that continue and the run is over as soon as it begins. And, if its a hard day, we sometimes have pure silence...even among 10 or so people. Water stops prompt minimal discussion, then its back to the grind. Even with all that, my Wisoconsin buddy still manages to lighten everything up with a few far fetched jokes. "P is for....."



Still what I like about the Sunday run is the fact that we are out there....together. Most of the country is still asleep...even the East Coasters. Most of the country is going to have some big brunch to nurse their hangovers and rest all day. Most of the country is not going to exercise this much all month!!! So its these points and the fact that on even the toughest of runs, I can sometimes engage in a conversation with someone...maybe a good friend, or someone I don't know that well yet. Not just any conversation, but the random times where the conversation turns serious...deep...meaningful. Such times where the door to someone just opens and maybe I would never learn the same things about them in any other setting. Perhaps is the sense that we are trying to kill time, or maybe there is a true sense of trust being built. Whatever the case, the Sunday run does this...like nothing else.



So when people ask why I run so much, especially early on Sundays, its tough to explain. Some say "Sunday is a day of rest!" Well, with all due respect...maybe God wasn't a runner. (Or maybe there is an exemption clause for us runners somewhere in the footnotes of Genesis). In reality, I feel more rested and relaxed after after a long Sunday morning run....than any other time during the week. So maybe it could have been written...."on the 7th day He ran 20 miles....then rested!"



Who knows, but it brings me back for more.