Since the move to my new town I’ve lost my running groove. I can’t find the place I want to run…..or like to run. There’s more traffic so I’ve not explored much. My daughter and I crossed the highway Saturday and found a small neighborhood there.
But it’s not my country roads. I think I didn’t know how much I liked the country and the roads there and the quiet there. I didn’t mind running in the dark sometimes because I knew the roads. I knew the people in the houses and dogs in their yards. I didn’t mind the one car or old truck that drove slowly past while I was running.
My husband told me last night that I may have to do what I don’t want to do. He reminded me that there are parks and high school tracks in town. And I reminded him that I don’t want to get in my car and drive somewhere to run. I want to step out of my front door and run.
So today I stepped out of my front door and ran. Two miles up and down the dead-end road I live on now. Back and forth….to the highway…..then down to the neighbors……again and again. I ran last week
too, but shorter distances because….well……it got old. This is what the route looks like on my Runkeeper app.
But gu
ess what? It was a great run this morning. So I go back and forth on the same road. I’ll get used to the burly boxer barking at me from his back yard and the two little dogs in their fence. I’ll get used to the highway traffic. Maybe I’ll start waving to the traffic as I turn around to run back down to the neighbors. Then wave again when I come back to the highway and again and again. And maybe I’ll cross the highway and run in that neighborhood soon.
All I know, is that I want to run. So I’m gonna run.
And I’ll get my groove back.
“The good Lord gave you a body that can stand most anything. It’s your mind you have to convince.” Vince Lombardi
mariegriffith.me 
You are RunKeeper app graphic was hilarious! Well done though.
Isn’t it though? Thanks Bruce.
Ughhh…the new normals are hard to embrace …but soon they become …normal, I guess 😉
Yes they will.
It may not be the country roads, but it’s the same sky! I applaud your TENACITY!
Nice quote from VL but I’m still not a Packers fan!
I can so feel your pain. I had the perfect place to run in Korea before we moved. I was a short jog away from a canal with a nice walkway. I never had to worry about traffic or stoplights. Here in Beijing, I’m often on a treadmill because the air is sometimes too polluted to go outside. And even when I can run outside, I run the same loop all the time, have to watch out for traffic, and smell the yucky city smells.
I do admire your tenacity, though. It’s so easy to throw in the towel when things aren’t ideal. My husband got me a TV and DVD player installed in front of our treadmill and the Little House on the Prairie DVDs for Christmas. It’s been keeping me happy so far. It’s so much easier to run on the mill when I can have Little House marathons.
Little House On the Prairie is the best!!
Change is disruptive, and disturbing, and it really messes up our grooves. I applaud you for trying new ways & places to run!
Thank you. New is hard sometimes but it’s good too.
Agreed! But not without pain, so it’s one of those bittersweet situations.