Wander-Run
I’ve coined a new term in my own head: The Wander-run. A wander-run is when I just start running all over the place without having a real distance, destination or speed in mind. It’s just me going and going and going for as far as I want until I feel done. I’ve really been enjoying it.
I started the wander-run a few weeks ago when I was at a park with my kids and didn’t feel like standing around and watching them swing, nor did I feel like giving them an obligatory 20 minutes and then hustling them along. Instead I just started taking laps in the parking lot, running across the field, following random, surface trails and basically just didn’t stop running until they were played out. Then, the other day, I found myself running all over the high school while my family played tennis. I had put in an hour of playing tennis with my kids (they are not bad, but there was no sweat being broken on me) and needed to get some cardio. Add to that the large number of high school boys who started swarming the field directly near us for a game and I kind of wanted out of there; the tennis court started feeling like a fishbowl!
So I ran. I didn’t have anything in mind, I just started running. I ran one way to see what was down one hill, and eventually back up the hill, through a field, a parking lot and finally I ended up doing laps around and around the track because it was so easy and simple and I could actually close my eyes a little on the straightaways and zone wayyyyy out. I have to say, it was kind of awesome. Exciting. Awesome in that way that made me get all excited and start thinking about what it means… why I like it… what made me excited about it.
I realized I’m not scared anymore of getting stuck somewhere and being too tired to get back. I trust that my body is strong enough to get me out of most valleys and off most hills. I have decent endurance now, too… I can slow run for quite a while…LOL. But mostly? I’m bored with my regular running routes! They used to comfort me but now they torture me and I can’t wait for a run to be over! I need to mix it up and try something new. No wonder I don’t love running as much as I used to- I look at the exact same scenery step after step, day after day, year after year… It’s nice to see something new! They say that when something gets stale to change it. I guess I was at that point…
