Yesterday I didn’t blog. I didn’t Facebook and I didn’t tweet, and it felt fantastic.
After completing The Flying Pig Marathon in the morning with an almost 8 minute PR of 3:14:56, I felt on top of the world. Running a race is one of the most tangible ways that I know to remind myself that life is about the mental choices that we make. At the points in my race where my legs were on the verge of spasming and where my body was tired both mentally and physically of mile after mile, I chose to take my mind elsewhere. Doing so brought me to a place of joy as I ran, because I was able to stop thinking and just enjoy the pleasure of movement. Choices in life have great impact on the outcome of our life, and I attribute the mental choices I made during my marathon yesterday to the success of my race, which placed me 3rd in my age group and 18th overall women in a race of 4,000+ people.
Post the marathon festivities, we had enough time for a celebration drink and a shower before we hit the road for the nine hour drive back to Virginia. Nine hours is a long time in the car for a body that is knotted up from a marathon, so thankfully my friend Nicole drove the entire way. I originally had planned on blogging from the car, but once we entered West Virginia and opened the sunroof and windows, all need for technology went to the wind. It’s been a while since I have unplugged. To be honest, the poor reception in hills sort of forced me into it, but I turned everything off and just enjoyed the ride. We got re-routed onto some back country roads through West Virginia due to a major highway accident, and, even though it slowed our trip down, it was a gorgeous blessing in disguise. With 80’s and 90’s music blasting for hours as we zoomed up and down through the curvy climbs for hours, I felt free. Freedom brings joy, and it multiplies it on days that were joy-filled such as mine.
Don’t ever underestimate the value of unplugging and celebrating life, and if you ever get the chance to drive through West Virginia with all the windows down and classic music blaring, then do it. There is power in turning off the mind and just feeling the pleasure of movement in the moment that you are living.