my new running buddy

I’m in Scottsdale for a business trip, staying at the Camelback Inn, which is an incredibly lovely resort. The weather is lovely and sunny so I figured I’d head out for a little run this morning, check out the scenery and get some exercise in before a long day of meetings. As I turned to head back to the hotel, the rising sun was at my back and lo and behold, there was my shadow jogging along in front of me, ponytail swinging rhythmically side to side with every step. And I thought, hey! There’s my running buddy. Me!

I’d been for a long run by myself on Saturday – 9 miles, which was sort of an accident. I only meant to do 8 but I misjudged the loop. It was a good run, nice and cool and overcast with really cool white clouds hovering over the snow-covered mountains. I pushed myself on the time and ran full out up every hill I encountered, including trotting doggedly up a steep pedestrian bridge that I have always walked in the past. I felt really good that day, like after the Salt Lake half last week I’ve overcome some kind of mental hurdle about being “a runner.” Let’s face it, even heading out of the hotel today for a morning run is something I don’t usually do. Sure, I take my shoes and my iPod on almost every trip but I don’t usually make it out the front door…too easy to make excuses, I don’t know where I’m going, I have too much to do, I can sleep in 30 more minutes, blah blah blah.

But something seems to have shifted in my head. And I think it’s my running buddy. My old running buddy looked a lot the same but, man, she was a negative bitch! You’re too slow, too tired, too out of shape. You can stop here, just walk for awhile, you can turn around here, that’s far enough, close enough. Your (stomach/foot/knee/shin/insert body part here) hurts so it’s okay to stop short or skip it altogether. My old running buddy made it easy to be a slacker, and she sure didn’t make me feel very confident. About anything.

My new running buddy is a lot more pushy, but in a good way. She tells me I can do more, go faster, farther. She’s proud of the fact that I got out of bed and out the door and down the street. She encourages me, tells me I’m doing a good job, reminds that this isn’t supposed to be easy – if it was, everyone would do it, kicks my butt into gear if I’m thinking about stopping or taking it easy up a particularly hard hill or last mile. She reminds me to focus on the flowers and blooming trees or the porch decorations of the houses on my route or the lyrics of “Sexy Back” rather than whatever little aches and pains come and go during a run. She says, you can make it to the next block, the end of this song, past that guy ahead of you and when I do she finds a new goal that seems pretty easy and before I know it, I’ve run another mile or two. She’s the one who’s always thinking of the next crazy thing we can do, like when we’re going to start training for the triathlon and getting into Lotoja and doing the Ragnar in the Tetons or Napa or Southern Utah, or even doing a half-marathon in Phoenix so we can come back to this lovely resort and weather in the middle of the next gloomy Utah winter.

She’s a lot more like my sister and Natalie or any of my real 3D, live running buddies who are there to prod me when I need it and give me a big WOO-HOO when I achieve my goals, no matter how small they may seem. Sometimes, it really is just getting out of bed in the morning.

I like my new running buddy. And I’m glad she’s with me all the time, even on cloudy days.