Running: An addiction, An Infatuation, An Inexplicable Desire

I am completely obsessed with running! It's an addiction, an infatuation, an inexplicable desire to lace up my running shoes and put one foot in front of the other every chance I get.  This past weekend I ran the Distance Dare at the Winter Park Road Race, which was a two miler followed by a 10K for a total of 8.2 miles. It was great fun racing with my running friends! Afterwards we not only had our beer tickets for free beer, we also happened upon others giving away their beer tickets. By 9:00AM I had ran two races for a total of 8.2 miles and had two beers. We ran into a bunch of people from my Ragnar team, so we chatted for a bit. When we left the beer area, we walked around the different vendor tents and stopped to enjoy free breakfast and coffee! The races were awesome and the after party was even better!

On Sunday, I met up with some of my running friends that didn't do the race on Saturday. We ran 8 miles and were lucky enough to see two bald eagles during our run! My running friend, Badass Doreen, made an excellent breakfast for us to enjoy after our run. Her husband crafted homemade cappuccinos to go with the heart shaped waffles that were absolutely perfect.

The people I run with are a fantastic group of individuals that support and challenge one another. Some people in our group are going through a shitty period of time in their lives, and it's encouraging to see us stand together in friendship and understanding. We are not alone. Sure we are running friends, but I think we might be regular friends, too. We went to see Beauty and Beast together. Next week, we are going to Paint with a Twist and the week after that a bunch of us are going to surprise the lady in our group that's in a play by showing up to see her show after we have a potluck dinner. 

Well, I said I was obsessed with running.  I ran a total of 16 miles this past weekend and I'm not training for anything specific. It was just for fun! At the moment, there is no place I'd rather be than out on the road pounding the pavement with each step I take. It's liberating for it to be as easy as it should be without any unnecessary struggle. I feel strong. I feel awake. I feel alive. I don't typically buy race photos, but when I saw the picture below I couldn't help myself.  I want to remember how great I felt in that moment, and even now. It captures the pure joy I find in running.

I jumped over the finish line of the two miler before the start of the 10K. Is it just me, or does it look like I still have hops from my basketball playing days? I think it looks like I'm flying!