Week 23, Day 162 - The Groove

I went on another run yesterday trying to recreate Saturday's run. I couldn't find Lola's leash so I just went alone, and I listened to an audiobook for the first time while exercising. (Apparently at one point I signed up for Audible.com and totally forgot about it. Gotta use dem credits.) The run went way faster than the first run! Audiobooks are magic! I passed fields and horses and children playing. I didn't want to stop but Matt's homemade steak street tacos were beckoning me home.

Can I just say that I love our neighborhood? We live on this really weird corner of town where no one ever goes unless they know someone who lives down there...not because it's shady, but because it's so remote. We live in a normal neighborhood just 2 minutes from a mall, but right across the street from us, Provo just...ends.

There are huge fields to the south, more fields and eventually the lake to the east, and even more fields northeast if you run the right route. There are farmhouses and medium-old houses and brand new houses being built, which is so true to Utah's philosophy of building new around old. Normally that annoys me, but down here it's just straight charming. It's the perfect mix of suburban and rural.

I really love tailoring my route so I can see a sunset unhindered by buildings. I like running by empty fields and old farmhouses with horses and dogs and old cars in the backyard. Our ward is full of what I call "pioneer stock"; older people who you just know grew up on a farm (mostly because of their accents, clothing and attitude about life). They're hearty and faithful and funny and wise.

The sun was shining and all just felt right with the world. I ended up running 4 miles total last night. Afterwards I had this giddy high all evening. All I could think was, "I WANT TO RUN MORE TOMORROW."

I'm really grateful that I've got my groove back. Last week I prayed for my motivation to come back to me, and God delivered. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

And just because it was such a glorious run, here are one thousand pictures.