Every runner has their favorite routes. Whether it is your after-work loop, your Sunday long run or an out-and-back from home, we all have roads and trails that bring comfort and good memories from miles logged in the past. But the routes that inspire us the most are the original runs that helped shape our identity as runners.
Recently, I was visiting my parent’s house in Connecticut and laced up my Asics to put in a few miles before dinner. I had been coming off of injuries that had prevented the winter training I was used to and this was going to be my entry back into what would hopefully be some more consistent training. While I knew I was only going to be able to manage three or four miles before I needed to be back, getting my legs moving and my mind back into the training mindset was more important to me than logging more mileage.
So I set out from home and took a left up a hill that, at one time, had seemed insurmountable. When I was a freshman in high school lacing up my first pair of running shoes, my endurance and strength was in its infancy. And while powering up the small incline was easier than it was 18 years ago, the memories of those early struggles and subsequent triumphs were vivid. As I crested the slope and headed back downhill, my confidence grew as my cadence increased. When I run the routes that made me fall in love with running, my mind always returns to the same topics: old races, friends I’ve made through running, and races I hope to run in the future.
Recently, I was visiting my parent’s house in Connecticut and laced up my Asics to put in a few miles before dinner. I had been coming off of injuries that had prevented the winter training I was used to and this was going to be my entry back into what would hopefully be some more consistent training. While I knew I was only going to be able to manage three or four miles before I needed to be back, getting my legs moving and my mind back into the training mindset was more important to me than logging more mileage.
So I set out from home and took a left up a hill that, at one time, had seemed insurmountable. When I was a freshman in high school lacing up my first pair of running shoes, my endurance and strength was in its infancy. And while powering up the small incline was easier than it was 18 years ago, the memories of those early struggles and subsequent triumphs were vivid. As I crested the slope and headed back downhill, my confidence grew as my cadence increased. When I run the routes that made me fall in love with running, my mind always returns to the same topics: old races, friends I’ve made through running, and races I hope to run in the future.
As I descended another hill, the familiarity of the cracks in the sidewalk and the turns in the road was therapeutic. The worries of the day and week melted away and I was able to relax. The route’s familiarity is one of the best aspects of my original route. I can run on autopilot. The phone is away, the computer closed and the boss is gone. Even if it’s only for 30 minutes, the road and trail never talks back, it never argues.
Rounding the turn for home, I always return to my racing days where I would focus on finishing the run fast and looking good, just in case someone was watching. And while my legs didn’t move as fast as they once did and my stride is not as smooth as it once was, I am still reminded of the days that I was confident no one could beat me in the home stretch because I practiced it everyday.
These days, my routes are different. They are on the city streets of DC, in Rock Creek Park, and on the canal towpath. And while there are few things better than having the endorphins kick in during a tempo run on the Capital Crescent Trail, it’s my original routes that remind me why I love the sport.
Rounding the turn for home, I always return to my racing days where I would focus on finishing the run fast and looking good, just in case someone was watching. And while my legs didn’t move as fast as they once did and my stride is not as smooth as it once was, I am still reminded of the days that I was confident no one could beat me in the home stretch because I practiced it everyday.
These days, my routes are different. They are on the city streets of DC, in Rock Creek Park, and on the canal towpath. And while there are few things better than having the endorphins kick in during a tempo run on the Capital Crescent Trail, it’s my original routes that remind me why I love the sport.
Where are your original routes? Let us know in the comments section!
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