Blindness

Over the past couple of weeks I have been trying to coax some of my hall mates into running with me, not that I do not find the time by myself enjoyable. I just want someone else there to push me to go farther and faster. Also, I am always scared that I will fall on the trail runs. There are several reasons for this fear. Number one is that all of the leaves cover the tree roots and there is never anyone on the trails early in the morning. Number two is because I fail to wear contacts on the early morning runs. I cannot stand taking a shower with contacts on and if I put them on early in the morning, then I will have wasted an entire days worth of wear in one hour.

I have gotten mixed reviews about the thought process behind my lack of vision during runs. Many of my friends are often worried about my tripping and falling but I reassure them when I appear back in the dorm an hour later. I enjoy this temporary blindness though because it allows me to focus on running. I listen to by breathing (more on that later) and to the sounds of nature around me. I know this all sounds a little strange, but it really makes my time alone on the pavement a calming experience. I enjoy this temporary freedom from work and the stresses of college. Although at first I thought that running would give me time to sort out all of the things in my brian, I realized all running really does for me is clear my head. All that I can think about when running is nothing. It sounds strange to non-runners but I am blinded from the lack of contacts and this allows me to forget the outside world, think about nothing, and I just go.