Our lives are nothing but stories waiting to be told. A mixture of the stories we tell ourselves and the stories we tell about ourselves.
It took me a long time to say out loud that I was a runner. I don't look like a stereotypical athlete and I run to complete not compete - often sacrificing the training it would take to run for pace by just getting out and running at all.
This mornings run was a typical run- 10 km in and out of Ciputra's winding roads. It has been a high AQI season - that and the summer heat creeping out through every available crevice and into the atmosphere around me make wanting to run a somewhat mind over matter affair. My preference is to run in cool weather- preferably in clean air. This morning was no different - I set off, got to 2 km and met a friend to finish off the rest of the run.
We found ourselves running along familiar routes and past familiar sites. Spaces that were desolate during the pandemic are slowly waking up again… a sense of life buzzing just round the corner. There is co first in seeing things remain the same. We eventually ran outside on the main road leaving the well worn bike paths in Ciputra. A couple of wrong turns and we ended up a little lost. We could see the buildings in the distance to give us some sense of orientation and ran in that direction. It's always easier for me to be in unfamiliar territory when I am with a friend- it's always much harder when I am on my own not to panic and trust that I will find my way back.
In classic Hanoi style one moment we were on a busy highway… 200 mts later we were off the beaten path and running past what looked like a village vegetable patch- the earth drawn into neat plots and a dusty but happy variety of greens poking their foliage out of the earth.
What makes me feel like a runner is that I run, regularly. I run as a way to take care of my self, to bring balance to what can be a hectic life and to show my children that staying active is important. I don't always love getting out but I do and I have made peace with running for the joy of it as opposed to competitively. Even when I run for shorter distances than I can, it helps embed I am in fact, a runner.
Run, done!
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