Monday Motivation: Run Free

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When was the last time you ran without having an exact route in mind?  Or the last time you went out to run without really knowing how far?

It's been awhile for me.  The last time I remember running outside not really knowing where I was going or how far was back in January 2011.  I felt so good running that I just kept going, because I felt like I could.  When I went home to map out how far I've gone (it was my pre-Garmin days), I was shocked to learn that I ran 7 miles.  Seven miles and the longest distance before that was only 4.5 miles!

When I train for a race, I get so caught up in total mileage, pace, where to go, where I can go to do a 6, 10, 12 mile loop that I forget to just let it go sometimes.  You know?  Feel free, feel lost in your thoughts, get caught up in what's around you, and have the rhythm of your breath and footsteps to guide you.  I need to remember to do that once in awhile to remind me why I love running so much, because now that I'm in the thick of marathon training and the miles are going up, training days are starting to feel like work.

So tomorrow, I'm going to lace up for my 6am run and run free.  Happy Monday, all!

What about you?  Do you ever feel this way sometimes?  Do you remember the last time you ran free?  Please share!