Apples to Motivate

I have always liked to go running on a trail somewhere. I love to run in downtown Seattle along the water, at Greenlake, or on the Centennial in Snohomish. All three of these places offer both sidewalk or grass, people and a lot to look at. It takes about 1 hour out of my day to drive to and back from my destination daily run. With the kid's crazy schedules keeping me in my car longer during the week, my motivation has been slightly less than it had been in a long time and I decided to change up my routine a bit. Maybe not having to drive to run would help. I began to stay local, starting and finishing my run at my house. The route begins with the first quarter of a mile uphill. It flattens out gradually, for about one mile, goes down hill, flattens out, then goes back up hill for another mile. I finish with an easy downhill. It's approximately 4 miles.

On this route I don't usually pass anyone, but I have made some new friends. Horses. Three horses, dressed in Burberry-like, printed overcoats. The first time I ran by their pasture, they barely took notice of me. One of the horses shook its head and turned away from the sound of my footsteps, but the others just ignored my presence. After a couple of hellos, overtime, they seemed to be waiting by the fence for me. So I took them some apples.

Have you ever run with a small bag of apples?

I would have never had to learn, except that my neighing buddies love them so. I get them off of the little tree at the 2.3 mile mark, and happily fumble with the odd package down the hill toward the pasture. I toss the treats to my neatly dressed friends, make a little small talk, and off I go...with a smile on my face. The short break in the middle of my run has guilted me into making it a bit longer. I had no choice. Its a small price to pay for this moment that has made this from-home-run one of my favorites!

Sometimes you just have to find your own trail to get you back into the swing of things. I am back on track and ready to go running.