Gifted....

Some runners on the NJ shore run an occasional stretch of beach rather than boardwalk. I have read a bit about the benefits to running barefoot and while sand can slow you down quite a bit, it's more forgiving on your joints provided that you are not running on a slant. This was my first go at running on the beach. From the street I live on, I have a 1.6 mile uninterrupted stretch of beach that I can run. So this gives me just over 5k as an out-and-back.

Yesterday morning, I dressed without shoes or knee high tube socks and hit the sand at around 8:20 am. I must admit I did not enjoy the 4 blocks of walking barefoot but I didn't want to risk losing any footwear by having to leave it somewhere. (My middle SON regularly steals my flip flops so I have enough issue in this regard, but that is another story. And for the record, he wears my gold or pink flip flops without shame.)

I was excited for this run. I don't remember the last time that I approached a run with genuine joy. What better way to celebrate living, movement, and fitness than a run on the beach and a swim in the ocean? I am very aware that my ability to run is a gift and a reward. So many people cannot (and/or will not) run and I can. As well, many do not/cannot/will not put in as much time and hard work and thus I feel that this ability to move fluidly (for HOURS if I wish!!!) is a well earned reward for my efforts. It's something to celebrate when you look at it that way, isn't it?

I ran under the pier where my neighbor holds daily yoga group instruction. I had no idea so many people attended! I ran past people just arriving- dousing themselves in sunblock and unpacking their beach luggage. I passed older couples reading newspapers, younger couples taking photos of each other with cell phone cameras, little kids with heavy buckets full of water, seagulls yelling at who-knows-what, jetty rocks, sea shells and mussels. There were parents urging their children to bravely walk into the water, children BEGGING their parents to let them go to the water and parents yelling at their children for going too far out into the water. I saw 2 or 3 other runners, beautiful bodies in scant swimwear, and large wide bodies with beautiful confidence in scant swimwear. The beach is one big people watching opportunity and running along the shore gives someone with ADD the perfect perspective for people watching as you don't have anything in front of you for very long at all.

I ended this run with a swim in the ocean. I went out to one of the buoys and back. The waves were fairly calm and the water temperature felt perfect.

Far too often we runners grumble about how horrible it is to run. I find it funny that we bitch and moan about something we willingfully choose to do. No obligation to anything or anyone but ourselves is forcing us to get out there and conquer these distances. No consequence outside of our own feeling of failure or inadequacy threatens us if we choose not to run. Yet we often approach this gift with disdain and reluctance. Are we not seeing the abundant forest through the trees? What a blessing it is to have earned the ability to run. And to have the time and energy to do it at will. What a gift it is to aspire to a goal and achieve it for no one else but yourself.

Sometimes it's the simple things that don't cost anything but time that make you realize that living and movement are precious, precious gifts. This is why I run.