From Point A to Point B

I know this will seem like a long time coming to all of my runner friends, but my run on Saturday was the first time I ever did a "destination run", aka, running from one place to another. Normally my runs are just for X minutes or Y miles, and I'm either running randomly around park trails, or in the future when it's too cold to run outside, running laps on a track, or (please! don't judge!) on the treadmill on the gym.

I never realized how much different the experience is when you're actually running to get to a specific place.

This weekend, the number of miles I wanted to run happened to coincide perfectly with the distance to our neighborhood Farmer's Market, which I wanted to peruse that morning. Great - I could run to the market and kill two birds with one stone!

And, I did it! I didn't run fast but I ran the entire way. I didn't stop to walk. And when I finally got to the park and was rewarded with a stunning view of the morning sun over the lake dotted with sailboats, I was shocked that it was over already. It had seemed like it would be sooo much farther and I was amazed how quickly I got there.

Even though this wasn't my fastest or most intense run, it was the most rewarding so far. It transformed running from something that felt like a chore, a task to be checked off a to-do list, into something empowering. Pretty much everywhere seems too far away to run the whole way there, like a big wall in between what's possible and what I can achieve. But I managed to knock one brick out of the wall and now, for the first time, it seems like I can eventually kick the whole thing down. I knew I could bike to the market, or drive there, or even walk there even though it would take forever. I never imagined I could run the whole way there but now, I know I can.

Running from Point A to Point B is a great way to run. It helps you get those miles in without constantly looking down at your watch/app/whatever, and it gives you a bonus feeling of accomplishment in addition to the one you already get from getting a good run in: I didn't just run, I got myself somewhere.