Last Friday I decided to get out of town.
I decided this a few days ahead of time. It was the first week back to school for my three kids, and by no small miracle I had a lot of work lined up but no imminent deadline weighing me down or holding me back. I could, I realized excitedly, maybe just maybe do something I’d been wanting to do for awhile: head out to one of my favorite Lake Michigan beach towns about 45 minutes from my house–and go for a run.
In other words, shake up my everyday running AND erase my post-holiday break weariness. Yes, two full weeks off with my kids is an absolute gift. It’s also a lot of work. I think we all needed to get back to our routine, to spend a little less time on top of one another. I know I sure needed to re-center, to experience some solitude. There were probably a million little things I could have done instead–clean out my closet, organize those family pictures for the digital picture frames, get a head start on a project–but I knew these all would be there. I chose to grab this moment and make it my day. Just this one day, for me.
The day started with Pilates at 8 a.m., and from there I drove northwest 30-some miles to the quaint Glen Arbor. I’d hoped to run part of the new Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail, but the paths were covered with slick ice and I instead opted for the two-mile stretch from Glen Arbor to Glen Haven, home to one of my most favorite beaches. I can’t wait to get back there to really explore this trail–the first portions of it opened this past summer, and eventually it will be a 27-mile non-motorized trail through the Lakeshore.
After running 2.5 miles to the beach, stopping to snap pictures and just be for awhile, then running the 2.5 miles back to my car, I was cold and wet. But very happy. I was the first customer of the day at Boondocks, a restaurant steps from my car. A fire crackled near the my booth, and I savored a steaming cup of coffee and bowl of hot chili. Bliss.
Have you shaken up your running routine lately? Where do you go for a run when you just need to get away from it all?
