Fall Running Yesterday was the type of day I tend to think about when it comes to a Fall  day in Iowa.   55 degrees… Cool, but not quite cold.  Winds swirling around 15 mph with gusts upward of 25-30mph.  Thick dark gray clouds that kept the feeling of morning around all day long.  Rain… lots of rain.  Not a fierce storm, but rather a shower that just hung around all day long.   Leaves are yellow, orange, red with a few still hanging on to a bit of green.  They’re falling too.  They’re everywhere.  Leaves cover the road, lawns and sidewalks.  With every gust of the wind they’re flying through the air.  The air is thick and damp.  Besides the rain, it’s very quiet.

This is my favorite time of year to run. 

Although the season lasts several months, this particular moment of Fall only lasts for a week or two at best.   There aren’t any looming “A” races that distracting me.  People stop spending as much time, if any, outdoors making thing more desolate.  My runs are simple in that I’m simply logging time and miles.  No pressure to push it.  Just run.

As I ran in the rain yesterday evening, I couldn’t help but think about all of this.  Running exposes me to all of it.  A non-runner could never make sense of me saying how relaxing and therapeutic running is. It’s like pulling the plug on life for a short time.  Just lace ‘em up and hit the road.  One minute I’ll be thinking about work or something I need to do, then the next I’m spacing off at the road in front of me.  What’s important is that it’s a time to relax the mind for bit.  It isn’t quite the same when you’re training and have to push a tempo run or incorporate some intervals.  That can work against you.

What I’m really driving at is that there is a reason why we need to drop things down a notch.  Learn to run simply for the love of running.  It’s so simple and pure.  Forget the tunes and any other high tech gear at home.  Just get out there and experience running at its most basic level.  Get a little dirty. Get rained on.  Step in a puddle.  It’s rejuvenating and at the end of the day will make you a better runner and give you a whole new perspective.

“I always loved running…it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs.”   – Jesse Owens

“We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves…The more restricted our society and work become, the more necessary it will be to find some outlet for this craving for freedom. No one can say, ‘You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.’ The human spirit is indomitable.”
-Sir Roger Bannister, first runner to run a sub-4 minute mile

“Running long and hard is an ideal antidepressant, since it’s hard to run and feel sorry for yourself at the same time. Also, there are those hours of clearheadedness that follow a long run.”
-Monte Davis

“We may train or peak for a certain race, but running is a lifetime sport.”
-Alberto Salazar

“Play not only keeps us young but also maintains our perspective about the relative seriousness of things. Running is play, for even if we try hard to do well at it, it is a relief from everyday cares.”
- Jim Fixx

See you on the road!