Today

Today is the 10 year anniversary of 9/11.  I didn't plan on anything special. It's not that i'm careless or unsympathetic or unpatriotic or ungrateful... I just... don't really do things like that? Does that make sense? Well, continue reading...

So I woke up early and drove to Boulder for a long run. It was quite possibly one of the best runs I've had ever. It started on a dirt road that turned into the Eagle Trail. But we turned off that trail and took to some single track that went through these fields (there were about 4 or 5 gates that were locked where we either had to climb over them or through a barb wire fence... very adventurous!!) The single track was really fun to run on and I completely stopped caring about how fast I was going - I was just really happy to be running. There were itty bitty little toads hopping across the path at one point and I stopped to pick one up. It peed on me. Be it was so tiny and cute! I continued on and glanced at my garmin just out of curiousity. 6:38 pace. Now we're talking!

The single track ended and I was sad to leave it behind, but the run only got better. Dirt roads through what I'm guessing is Niwot (???) went through fields and farmland. The air was so fresh and smelled like grass and the end of summer. It was so perfect. There was a farm around mile 14 that had little lambs and llamas! I mean, I've seen lams and llamas before but it was totally unexpected (I did not try to pick up any of them, therefor, I did not get peed on again). A little further down the road was a field of sunflowers. It was like that the whole time: bright blue sky, fresh air, fields, wild flowers, grassy hills, animals just relaxing and grazing. While I didn't start running on my own, I ended up on my own and for a while I was really wishing one of my firends was there to share the views with me. But then I was completely happy with the solitude. Everything was peaceful and I felt strong and refreshed and just totally satisfied.

The last time I did a long run up in Boulder, I was running with a bunch of people who are WAY faster than me. I don't know my way around (we got little papers with directions to take along this time) so I had to keep up or I'd be lost. It turned out to be an awesome run but I was a little worried that it wasn't something I could handle on my own. But this morning I did it. There were quite a few hills toward the end (and I made a wrong turn so I ended up running an extra 2 miles, so the last two weren't super fast - more aroung 7:00) but on average my pace stayed around 6:35 and felt amazing!

It was all so pleasant. Late summer sun. Clear skies. The kind of day you'd see in the movies when the main character is daydreaming.

So I didn't have anything planned for today. Nothing I did was specifically in rememberance of 9/11. But looking back on it right now, if I had put some thought into it and planned out even just a minute to dedicate, I think I would've wanted to do exactly what I did: get out and enjoy life. Enjoy and be thankful for the fact that I'm alive and healthy and have the freedom to do as I please.

Instead of just having a minute of silence or a small block of time on a single day, I'm going to try to keep this frame of mind and be more grateful all the time. Because, really, it's not just about today, it's about having gratitude for every day.