Sacred Life Sunday

Thanks to Zena Musings' Sacred Life Sunday and her postings about what connects her to Spirit... today I have chosen to write about my running, and how it makes my innerself celebrate.
I have been running (maybe it was jogging at first!) off and on since 1985 .. It was first introduced to me in 1983, (when we were living in Hong Kong) by who else .. a runner. He called himself The Lean Mean Running Machine .. I was a spectator (and cheerleader!) then, watching track runs, and road races. It took about a year and a half for me to decide to try it myself. At the time I had a walkman, and a mixed song cassette tape of Huey Lewis and the News and The Cars .. off I went trotting down Peak Road, dodging double decker buses on narrow roads. I kept a running journal and tracked my time and mileage. Fast track (no pun) to 1991 when I decided to run races .. my old boss used to laugh and say that I only ran the races for the t-shirts .. it was that year that I did the most road races; my most accomplished was a half marathon. (I was probably also at my most thinnest ...*sigh*)
Then life took over, and babies were born... and running went on the back burner for a while. After Alet was born, I realized I needed my outlet back .. and to the gym I went .. faithfully started back on a regime .. then injury set in .. and it threw my running off for several years. I joined the gym, lifted weights .. did Kick boxing, stair master ..could do everything else but run!
Finally three years ago, I decided that it was time to try again .. with constant coaching .. the bug bit me hard, except this time my runs have become so much more to me than ever before.
I have run through moves, through deployment, through heartache, through happy times and sad times ... it is my stress reliever, my permission to drink extra wine and eat more chocolate .. running doesn't require much coordination ..(forget Step Class or Spin classes .. elliptical machines?!?) and best of all ... I can listen to my music as loud as I want, and just run ... and run, and run .. I can run at 5:00 am or 8:00 pm ..the pavement is my friend! My running shoes always travel with me .. I have had the opportunity to run in many different places; different countries..I can proclaim that I have run in 90+ degrees and the lowest of 12 degrees! .. Running makes me feel strong ..it is my peace and tranquility ..I love to run!