I had a strange experience today. We went for a drive to have a walk around a nearby RSPB nature reserve. As we meandered down the paths through the woods we saw Herons nesting, a river babbling alongside, we played pooh sticks on a little wooden bridge and then we emerged out of the woods into a place which seemed familiar, like I’d seen it in a dream.
I soon realised I’d been at that point before, our walk had inadvertently intersected one of my frequent long run routes. This particular part of the route was a place I had been many, many times but I had always been running and it had always been at a point on my run where I had already completed many miles. I had never been in this place without feeling fatigued or without moving at speed so the scenery was slightly blurred.
This has always been a place full of mixed emotions, it has typically been close to the end of my long runs and depending on my target distance I would usually be passing by having already done anything between 9 and 17 miles. It’s been my nemesis in the past as it is a particularly straight and flat stretch so it’s possible to see well into the distance. It makes it extremely difficult to judge distance as the horizon depressingly never moves. I have hated it more than I have loved it. Today though it was different. I was able to stand, stroll, breathe and observe. This place that I thought I knew so well couldn’t have been more different.
A place of nightmares was suddenly a place of serenity. I almost felt guilty for misjudging it, for cursing the thought of arriving there knowing it was going to hurt me. I was surprised with how much more detail there was. I know it sounds strange, that we live in a world of infinite details but this place had never been that 3-dimensional before, it had never had texture to it, or smell or sound, other than a thudding heartbeat.
Running is a great way to get to know somewhere, I’d never considered though how it could totally change the perception of a place. Holding feelings of negativity or any ivity for that matter about somewhere is illogical. I hated that place until today because of how I felt when I was there in the past. The image in my mind was of a dark, dirty miserable place, today showed me somewhere much different. I’ll no longer fear it, I’m sure when I am there again I’ll not be comfortable but now at least I’ll hopefully see it more for how it really is rather than how I’m feeling, and maybe in doing so I’ll feel better.
I’m a runner now you see 