So in the spirit of mixing things up a bit...I decided to incorporate some "light peeping" into my evening run. If you haven't done this yet...I am going to strongly suggest to give it a whirl. I went down to central NJ to visit my mom. Its cold and gross out...but since I just lectured you all about how we need to brave the elements, I decided to strap on about 40 layers too many and head out for my run...but I didn't shove off until about 4:15 pm. Now my light peeping escapade was not planned...it just sorta happened-which made it the best part. One of my rituals when I head out for an unplanned run is to stroll through my playlists in my ipod and pick one that I just haven't listened to in a while. So thats what i did....found an old play list...(ironically entitled "mix it up" which paraded my ears with songs by OAR, Dar williams, Brand new, Ray Lamontague, matt nathanson, story of the year, and a few others...) and headed out into the evening. About 15 minutes into my run, I realized I was dressed all in black and barely visible to the oncoming traffic--I started to get a little nervous so I made some more turns and took myself onto some more back roads where there really was minimal traffic. I started to get lost in my music and then something happened. I looked around. Like really looked around and started to notice how totally beautiful all of the houses looked. One after another they were adorned with christmas lights and beautiful wreaths and red bows. I could look in the windows and see families getting ready to have sunday dinner...hanging out in their living room. I was sorta peeping--but not in a weird way..just running by and simply admiring what I was witnessing. I could see christmas trees in windows...I could see candles lighting the sills...i could see fires in the fireplaces and smoke poofing out of chimneys. I felt like the "all night runner". It was so beautiful...calming..relaxing. getting lost in your head. listening to great tunes. and being witness to what makes sunday and the holidays so special. Before i knew it my time was up and I was heading back to mom's beautifully adorned house where I suddenly had much more appreciation for the work it took to make it sparkle with such great holiday spirit.
Holiday spirit. I can't wait to sit down tonight and have dinner with my family. And I can only HOPE that someone light peeps into my world and can bear exposure to the warmth and serenity of mom's house.
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I only recently located the CKC blogs, as I was looking forward to them. It’s so cool you are getting to do this. I participated in the Challenge, but didn’t make the cut (I did have a blast). While I continue to train (finally, structured training, though I have to pay $$), I’m looking forward to reading about your progress. What a great opportunity! Good luck in the coming months!! Gregg P.
Thanks Gregg!! You are so great! I totally appreciate you checking out the blog...i feel like nobody is reading..haha. Did we meet at the event? Where are you from?
We met ever so briefly. I'm from Indianapolis, and was #164 in heat eight with James. I enjoyed your take on running the streets at Christmas. If the streets ever dry up here I am going to follow your recommendation. I have finally acclimated to the cold, and I'm glad, because these ninety-minute Zone 2-3 treadmill runs have to be the most maddening and boring runs. Ever. It has been a big shift for me, since I found my normal method was to always run at high perceived effort. This change has been tough, but I understand the basic principal as to why.
It will be interesting to see how the articles go in Triathlete, and even more interesting to see who is picked for Lake Placid. I think it will be important for the six of you to define yourselves and to develop an "in print" personality in which readers will take enough interest to take the time to read (since the readership is small, and the blog readership smaller). Actually, if you can somehow generate interest in your blog through other means (local articles, links from other sites), you might increase the pool of potential voters (even if the pool is limited to Triathlete subscribers).
I can be reached at conepile@comcast.net.
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