Footprints In The Snow

 My initial intention was to publish this post last Saturday during the snowstorm, but I found I needed to allow my thoughts of this particular run to settle and allow the words to come instead of forcing and searching for expressing all I wanted to express in this post....

A few weeks ago, I saw a post for a Winter Warrior Challenge.  The challenge entailed running or walking at least one outdoor mile for the month of January.  Today will be Day 43 for me of this challenge.  I made a commitment to extend that challenge through the duration of winter.  I began the challenge running the first few days in shorts in New England!  And then there have been days  I’ve worn so many layers I felt like a snowman trying to run with hand-warmers stuffed in my gloves and a hood tied over my hat.  Often, I am blessed with a friend willing to meet me at 5 am to run this mile in the dark and cold before our crossfit class.  No matter how much that thermometer drops,even below zero degrees,  she’s there ready to run by my side.  It seems to be the true antidote to that winter depression and it’s the greatest way to wake up each morning, 1 mile in the dark, just us and the stars, while most people still lay in bed.  

On Saturday’s she often cannot be there because of other commitments so last Saturday in the snow storm, I found myself running my mile solo.  It was magical.  I got to thinking as I ran how great this daily mile feels, shaking loose all the stuff, in a way, I find only running truly can.  I generally let my mind wonder when I run alone planning my day, making to do lists and grocery lists in my head but last Saturday as I ran in the snow storm, the ground beneath me was mostly soft but slippery just beneath the surface, so I had to be careful as I ran each step,  the wind was blowing snow so hard I really could not look too far ahead.  I laughed at myself as I realized the lesson I was learning.  I was being forced to focus and stay only in each moment as it came.  If I looked too far ahead, I would find myself working hard to catch my balance after slipping, the ice forcing my body to stretch into different directions, a perfect manifestation of how I so often feel in my daily life, stretched so thin between work, the kids, my students, my clients, my patients, friends, working out, eating healthy, family, every one and everything pulling me in different directions but perhaps in the daily storms of life if I just slow down,relax, and just stay in each now moment, I won’t end up slipping and using most of my energy to regain my balance.  Moving forward would be a whole lot easier.

As I turned the corner, the snow began to feel softer,as if it was falling straight down on me and began padding my steps instead of challenging them.  It stopped feeling so aggressive and I looked around, for a moment it was the most peaceful and quiet sensation, I felt as if I were the only person in the world , just me, the snow kissed evergreens in the park, and the freshly blanketed streets and sidewalks, even the plows had not yet been out.  It was peaceful, energetic, and invigorating.  I missed my friend’s company but I was delighting in my momentary solitude at that moment.  

As I approached the end of my mile, I glanced behind me, a trail of footprints left by me, they’d be gone soon, but today, I had left a simple mark on the world and my heart in the lessons I learned from leaving those footprints behind me in the snow.