Maggie's National Naked Running Day (observed)

A few days ago my friend and fellow runner/blogger, Maggie, wrote a lovely post about getting back to the simplicity of running; running for running's sake. You really should click here and read it - it's very thoughtful and nicely written.

Simply put, Maggie suggested that this coming Monday, we observe and celebrate Maggie's National Naked Running Day. No, she's not suggesting a mass streak across the city of Philadelphia. Rather, she suggests we leave our watches, iPods, Garmines (if you have one), and technical running gear at home and just go out and "enjoy the run for what it is".

My schedule didn't happen to sync up to allow me to observe this 'holiday' on Monday, so I chose to celebrate a day early. Now... to be fair... I don't really have non-technical running clothes - so I just wore what I normally wear. And, I don't usually run with my iPod unless I'm on the hamster wheel, so leaving that behind wasn't too difficult. Leaving the watch on the dresser, however, was not easy. I won't lie. I looked at the clock immediately before and immediately after I ran - so I do know approximately how long I was out... and of course I G-mapped the course (which I had already had archived) so I could know how far I ran.

Confessing these things may make it seem like I cheated a bit, and maybe I did, you can decide for yourself. But for me, I had the right mindset. I ran a neighborhood route, through the bowels of Southeast Delco - watching people doing yard work, walking home from church, or arriving for Mother's Day celebrations. The weather was beautiful and lots of stuff was in bloom. There is this one particular stretch of road that is about a mile in length that falls around the fifth mile of this loop. I love this road for the simple fact that, to me, it has the perfect rolling hills. You really can't even call them hills. Not even I, who might consider some large speed bumps hills, would call these hills. Rather, the roll of the road with its slight inclinations and declinations make it a very enjoyable stretch for me to run. It was a very zen like experience for me today running that stretch.

So here I am, a week past Broad Street, two weeks past the Lehigh Valley Half Marathon, and I'm trying NOT to worry about pace. It was a challenge, but I'm glad that I was able to do it. I felt good, strong, and thankful that I have the ability to get out there and enjoy the run for what it is.

Thanks for the suggestion, Maggie.

(8.2 in about 72 minutes - sorry... old habits die hard)

P.S. Ran 5 miles(42:22)on Friday on the treddy due to the rain.