Sometimes, we runners focus too much on our stopwatches. We worry about pace and form, how our legs are feeling and wonder if we’re getting the proper fluids to fuel us along our way. We fight to cut seconds from
Sometimes, we runners focus too much on our stopwatches. We worry about pace and form, how our legs are feeling and wonder if we’re getting the proper fluids to fuel us along our way. We fight to cut seconds from our time by running as fast as we can. We wipe the sweat from our eyes, breathe harder and charge ahead, damn the scenery we’re missing all around us.
I am often guilty of this.
But on a recent trip to Seattle to visit family, you could say I came to my senses. I slowed down. I enjoyed the views. I admired the beauty. It is indeed, there, if we just take time to see it.
On this 15-mile run around North Seattle, I started in the Ballard neighborhood. I wound along the water at Golden Gardens, climbed up some seemingly endless deep stairs and headed north. My route took me along Greenwood (the place of my youth), to the Interurban Trail, to the hectic and busy Aurora Avenue, and on to my destination, my mom’s home in Edmonds, a cozy, gorgeous town set in front of the Puget Sound.
Throughout the run on a warm, sunny afternoon, I did not work hard. I relaxed. I enjoyed. I said hello to people. I stopped often and took pictures with my iPhone. I savored the sunlight. I treasured the steps.
It was simple and beautiful.
— Bill Buley
