Running ABQ

As many of you may know Albuquerque spreads out on the foot of the Sandia Mountains, so if you choose to run in Albuquerque it is quite likely that it involves some kind of up and down at some point.


Since I live in the North East and I like to run on the trails in the foothills, we are talking about A LOT of up and down. Which brings me to my second favorite title choice for this post "Beating your inner Schweinehund", which, my non-German-speaking friends, means essentially "Kicking your own butt".

Yes, when you know your run will be tough and you'll end up panting like a steam engine and with a face like a tomatoe (not a green one..), there are days when you don't want to go out there, even less when it is near freezing cold and you'd much rather sit on your comfy sofa, work some on your favorite knitting project and watch the next episode of Weeds.

However, then there are the days - like yesterday - when you manage and go go out there and you just do it.

After a downhill warm-up comes the upwards heat-up...
The trail keeps winding up and up until you get to the turn. THE TURN is actually THE REWARD and the point during the run, where you are happy you are running, happy you are healthy and you feel like the luckiest person in the world to live in Albuquerque.


Because the trail finally swings around and you get to see this:


and a little bit later this:


Running here also reminds me of my father. "Of loss and of Gain" could have been another title for this post...

My father was a runner. Seriously. He ran marathons, several of them. 5 years ago we lost him to cancer and I still miss him so much for so many reasons.

I know he would have loved Albuquerque and he would have loved to run and bike on the trails, but when I am running and I'm out there, he is so much closer to me than anywhere else. And that is a good thing.

The last stretch just goes down our street and feels like a walk in the park compared to the previous 45 minutes.
Yesterday was a good day. Any run is a good run, any time you are out there is good and I swear, I am a better person for the rest of the day.

Now today, that's a different story.... :-)