I love running in the rain. Five miles through the park today with only the muffled sounds of water and leaves and an occasional car passing slowly. I've taken to running without the ipod, instead focusing on my feet, legs, lungs, heart, breath, thoughts, surroundings. In the rain, a certain unexpected stillness hangs, like the earth is pausing after a deep breath.Living in a city, I find I most crave the smells of soil, water, vegetation. I'm still running on pavement, but around me the dense sensual world of nature reaches out. The smell of the earth after a rain is called petrichor, a word coined in 1964 from petros, stone, and ichor, the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology. It could just as well be the veins of the earth, since the source of the smell has been found to be oil based. Amazing that we have managed to take something so profoundly of nature (oil) and convert it into its supremely ruinous and dangerously practical opposite (plastic).
The run today was the perfect opposite to last Thursday - fast, rich, and vitalizing. At least two miles came in well under a 10 minute time and the third came close. I was working hard, but in a good way, holding plenty in reserve. My fastest 5 miles so far at 54 minutes.
2 comments:
Nice description of the tranquility of running through the park. Makes me look forward to spring!
Beautiful post. I like reading about the impressions and sensations felt on a run/ride. It's easy to forget about the other senses, like smell and sound, when always focusing on feeling and sight.
Thanks for keeping it real and keeping it poetic.
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