Reuniting with the trails after weeks of only road running opened my heart wonderfully wide. Basking in the golden leaves, blue sky, and sunbeams. Mud slinging up the back of my legs. Birds dashing from limb to limb overhead.
My husband joined me for a five-mile loop at Eagle Creek. The Green trail belonged to us. Not another soul that whole stretch. Areas that are normally dry have turned to marsh, and the ducks were holding court trailside. Even though I’ve run that stretch many times, it felt like a discovery. A homecoming and someplace new all at once. Isn’t that something?
We stopped at Lilly Lake to take in the view and snap a photo before heading back to the trail. I assumed my phone was safely tucked into my pocket, but I accidentally left the camera open. It continued to capture photos and videos through my pocket for the rest of our run. 31 photos and 21 videos to be precise. This is what my camera roll looked like:
As it turns out, Oiselle’s flyout bra mesh pocket with a pacific blue flyout shirt over it allows plenty of light through, enough for photography. Flyout is one of my favorites for a reason—it’s crazy breathable. Who knew it would be such an interesting photo filter too? I posted one of the videos to my IG Stories, and here’s one of my favorite accidental photos, where you can see the forest through the fabric:
As we drove away from the park, I also realized my phone rogue-texted a few friends random old photos and nonsensical text. Equal parts hilarious and baffling. Luckily nothing scandalous, and no exorbitant purchases made either!
I couldn’t help but think of these as subliminal, but purposeful messages at work. They are playing to this tug in my heart, persistent and growing. I let my wishful thinking take the shape of words earlier this week: that I would rather be training for trails instead of a road marathon PR.
Next week, Boston retraining starts. I’m not sure the race will go on. Most people predict it won’t happen in September as re-scheduled. I know I’ll start training either way. Go through the motions. But I’m wondering now if, instead of Boston being the goal, it’s part of the build toward something else?