the beauty of 10 miles

Tuesday morning we awoke at 4 am.

Interestingly, I was dreading the early morning wake time above the 10 mile run we were about to embark on.

Running in complete blackness with the occasional vehicle interrupting the desert's eerie quiet is an experience. To see the sunrise slowly over the mountains is exquisite. Your senses are alert to every noise, smell and sight. I focused on my breathing, the rotating aches and pains, the mild rubbing pain on my toe, and the divots in the dirt ahead of me.

Arizonans run in the morning to escape the desert's arid heat- even in November. The downside would be that total darkness leads to vision impairment. Kim actually twisted her ankle at one point during this run on a rock she didn't see(which fortunately didn't have any lasting effects).

As this is the longest run any of us have done, we are feeling pretty proud and very satisfied! It felt no longer than last week's 8 and we have completed our last long run before the half.

There are so many pieces to running. Even this dreaded but beautiful early morning run. Not many get to experience nature in the way that a runner can.