Running

This week I thought I'd write a little about running, since it has become one of my favorite activities in the past few years. I ran when I was younger, but only when I had to for a P.E. class or while playing sports; never for its own sake. I was on the track team in 9th grade and remember getting to the point where I could run long distances without hurting too much, but I didn't like it well enough to stick with it.

The first time I really felt the joy of running was in the summer of 2009, when I was hiking in the mountains above Spanish fork with a group of boy scouts. Some of the boys had gone ahead of the rest of the group, and it was starting to get dark. I was worried they would miss the fork near the end of the trail and get lost, so I started running downhill, in the dark, over rough terrain (it's a miracle I didn't sprain an ankle). I ran over a mile and felt so great afterward that I decided to start running for exercise and recreation. That first season was difficult, but I persevered and it became more enjoyable once I had built up some endurance.

In July 2010 I ran a 5k race in 31 minutes. It wasn't a great time, but I ran continuously without stopping (which was my goal). Then in August I started running longer distances. I ran a 10k race in September in Midway (in 61 minutes) and ran close to 12 miles at one point before injuring my hip in November. I took a break for a while, started seeing a chiropractor and talked to a physical therapist about stretches I could do to avoid future injuries. This past summer I ran a 5k race on July 4th (I can't remember my time) and I'm planning to start training for a half marathon in May 2012.

One of my favorite aspects of running is getting to be outdoors. I often run in the evening or at night, and I love looking up at the stars or seeing a beautiful sunset like this one that I took a picture of on June 23, 2011:

On September 26, 2011 I went for an evening run from my house to the Spanish Fork reservoir. This is a difficult route (I've only done it twice) because it involves some extremely steep hills. Here is a picture of me at the bottom of the hill, wearing the world's ugliest shirt. (A little background on this shirt: I won it at a conference in San Francisco in February, 2011. It was a SharePoint conference, so this shirt is supposed to be a joke. It has a picture of the singer Cher and a finger pointing, thus "CherPoint" or "SharePoint." My wife hates this shirt and my kids laugh and scream whenever I wear it. After this particular run, my wife washed this shirt and hid it in the back of one of the dresser drawers I rarely use. I think she's hoping I won't find it, but I know where it is and will pull it out when she least expects it. Maybe on Christmas morning! Bwahahahaha.)


This is a picture from the top of the hill (it looks much steeper in real life):


And this is the beautiful sunset I saw when I got to the bottom:


On October 15, 2011 I went for a run and was so amazed by all the fall leaves that I kept stopping to take pictures. These mountains are to the south of us (I can see them out the back windows of my house):


This is a picture of the golf course and windmills:

These are the mountains to the south again, but this time you can see a snow-capped peak on the right:

I like the color contrast on the mountains in this photo (this mountain is northeast of my house):

I love running in the shade, especially on hot days. I wish every sidewalk looked like this one:


I liked the vibrant colors on this tree near a church in Spanish Fork (we went to this church when we first moved to our current house, but now we go to a closer one):

This is a picture of me at the Spanish Fork cemetery, where I ran on Thanksgiving morning (November 25, 2011). I find cemeteries quite peaceful, and sometimes I go to this particular spot to think and reflect and escape the fast-paced intensity of everyday life:


This is one of my favorite places to run, along a trail near the Spanish Fork river. I took this picture when I went running the day after Thanksgiving (November 26, 2011):


In the winter I usually run on a treadmill at the gym. It isn't nearly as enjoyable as running outside, but it keeps me in shape so I'm ready for running outside again when the weather warms up. At this point I believe running will be a lifelong passion for me, and I'll keep doing it as long as my body lets me :)