Birthday Run

Monday was my birthday.  I've never been big on celebrating my birthday.  Why that is, I can only venture a guess.  It is not a consequence of religious upbringing or some traumatic birthday experience.  I simply have never assigned it that much importance.  Repeated prodding by my friends and family for gift ideas have always been met with a stock answer: "I just want to be left alone."  Now some might consider that to be inconsiderate or rude, but rest assured that I have always thanked them for their consideration and desire to observe my "special day".  I enjoy my solitude.  I always have.  And with the ever increasing pace of life and the demands placed on my time, solitude becomes a very rare treasure indeed.

So in the early dawn, before the sun had broken the horizon, I laced up my running shoes and drove out to one of the local parks for a private gift to myself: a solo twenty mile run.  There was not a soul around as I climbed out of the car.  Local traffic was nearly non-existent.  Wrapped in the darkness of pre-dawn I started out along the roadway that would lead me from one local park to another; my solitude only interrupted by the occasional song of birds as they began to stir.  For the next several hours I enjoyed the time alone.  Enjoyed the sense of pushing myself.  Enjoyed the rush of my breath and the thundering of my heart in my own ears; even as I considered my "age", my mortality, and the ever increasing flow of time to which I now seem much more acutely aware.

Although I carried my iPhone with me, I refrained from listening to music as I ran; choosing to only put my earbuds in when traffic along the roadway increased to a constant that I could no longer ignore.  The choice of wearing my new Brooks Addiction 10 shoes for the first time on a twenty mile run probably wasn't the most intelligent thing to do.  My favorite running store no longer carry the trusty Addiction 9 in my size as the model is now over two years old.  My feet and calves took a beating and cramped up several times after the 17 mile point, but I pushed on.  Often I'm too stubborn, even for my own good.  I'm pleased to say, however, that there were no lasting ill effects from having done so.  My stamina was boosted by the replacement of water in my hydration belt with Gatorade G2 (low calorie - fruit punch).  As well as alternating between Cliff Shot Bloks and PowerBar Energy Blast chews.  This was also the first time that I had used chews as opposed to gels and I was very pleased with the results.

As the morning progressed the parks began to fill with people; most with their children on Spring break from school.  Traffic increased.  Bikers zipped past in their body suits, their pedals spinning at a rate that seemed mismatched with the speed of their wheels. I passed several other runners - some who acknowledged me with waves and smiles and others who, like me, wanted only to focus on their own internal processes; passing silently, stoically by.

At the end of my run - which had started in solitude, darkness, and (relative) silence - the sun was shining brightly from overhead, and I was surrounded by the dynamic of moving people and the laughter of children and families.  There are, of course, a plethora of analogies that I could make regarding my birthday run and life.  But perhaps each person should draw their own unique parallels.  The musician Seal once said that he does not publish the lyrics to his songs because each person is entitled to their own interpretation of the music.  So I shall leave this recanting of my run for your consideration.  Just know that it was, perhaps, the best gift that I could give.