morning runs with new friends

I'm a morning runner. In the 6 years or so I've been running I've always been a morning runner. I love going out in the morning while everything is still quiet. I like to run in the middle of the street and not worry about cars. In the summer I like to get out and beat the heat and in the winter I enjoy feeling the cool air in my lungs. I typically run my morning runs alone. For the first few marathon seasons I had a fabulous running buddy for Saturday long runs. Long runs with E were the highlight of my week. There are many long run adventures that I could share with you but I'll save them for another time. Three years ago E decided it was time to head back to school and left me for law school. Since that time I've been running solo and missing having some company.

This past Saturday I set out on a 16 mile run. I have to say I was not motivated to head out the door at all. It was my first long run of my new training schedule (I'm in training for the Barcelona Marathon) and it was freezing outside. My weekday runs I run without music but for long runs I attach my nano for a little distraction. I headed out on my run without any particular route in mind but I wasn't worried about it. I've run this town enough to roughly figure out how far I've gone and with my nikeplus I never have to think too hard about the distance. My route was all over the place and by the time I hit the trail I was on autopilot headed back towards home.

As I was on the trail I came upon a woman who was ahead of me and ended up running up on her heels. Since one of my biggest pet peeves is when people run in your space I had made the decision that I either needed to pass her or fall back a bit. I went for the pass when I heard her say "good morning" as a person who enjoys friendly conversations and is an avid waver I said good morning back and asked how she was. She commented about the cold and we began to talk. Five miles later we were still talking. During that time we had exchanged names and email addresses and agreed to run together again.

We took care of our first planned run this morning and it was wonderful. I love meeting new friends and passing the miles with a buddy. I love finding someone else who isn't afraid to get up and out the door at 5:30 am even in the winter. I have found that some of my closest friendships have developed while running. There's something very bonding about the time spent out on the road training, sharing, laughing and watching the miles fly by. I'm looking forward to my new friendship with H and hopefully many more runs together.