For the past few months, I have started to "run". Inspired by a friend who decided to shed a serious amount of weight and get fit. Making the most of the daily visits to the dog park, and getting my dog to run when there was no other dog to play with. And when I was back in Wales visiting my family I had access to the best ever coastal path a few minutes from the house. Running is so much less hassle than cycling ... less gear intensive ... you can step out the door and just get going. But unlike cycling when I feel the power translated from legs to pedals to speed, when I run there's no lightness or velocity, no wind in my wings.
There's a HUGE amount of ego involved in this un-ease - I want to be good at running, I want be fast, I want to be able to run up the hills not just down them. So I have to show up, time after time, and sometimes I feel great and others I'm huffing my way up the hill one step at a time. My yoga practice reminds me to show up AS I AM. And not get all agitated and cranky because I want the experience to be different. If I show up and do the work I will improve. I challenge myself with sprints, have days where I'm just strolling the trails. And notice when I am getting frustrated and remind myself to not judge.
And sure enough the other day I ran the whole loop, up-down-around, without a single stop.