As all the leaves change color and slowly begin to layer the ground before us, runners will be hitting the trails more than any other season. Temperatures have been steadily dropping, leaving only brisk air to coat the lungs and steal the moisture from every breath. The trail brings many challenges to the forefront of even the most skilled and avid runner’s workout. Loose rocks and roots make for an uneven ride, with the fallen leaves hiding every obstacle like a winter cloak. Tree branches fall across the trail with weakness, forcing runners to be agile enough to clear the path, or suffer the same sort of uprooting themselves. Form is tested immensely, with the demand for lateral, oblique, and vertical movement dominating the muscles less used for traditional forward motion on the road. The sounds of mountain streams, falling acorns, and small animals scurrying around predominate, only to be silenced by the heavy breathing of dense forest air and light footsteps on the dirt beneath your feet. The deeper it gets into the fall season, the more difficult it becomes to see where the trail lies under its blanket of leaves. Daylight savings time brings a race against the setting sun, when dusk settles over the woods and visibility is challenged by the minute. Why take the risk, you ask? The reward is difficult to put into words, but I will try to explain. Metaphorically speaking, the trail relates to life itself, a never-ending test of trials and tribulations, perils and punishments. Every step is an opportunity for a clean slate and the growth that comes from it. It is both reckless and controlled, able to be taken at whatever speed is comfortable. It is the chance for freedom and wonder to be both experienced and appreciated in every breath and every heartbeat. It is the chance to feel so alive that everything around you seems to come alive too. It’s both risky and therapeutic. Even a die-hard road runner will find it both contagious and addictive; it’s the drug you’ve always wanted to try, without the side effects. If you have ever seen a dog run loose on a trail, you know what freedom looks like: completely uninhibited, impulsively intuitive, with pure sensational direction and motive. They run for the thrill of the trail and the challenge it brings, every sense in tune with nature at every moment; every leap and bound through the forest dares to be faster and higher than the one before it. Run like this. Run free. Leave everything else at home and dare to push yourself to the level where all five senses are fully aware and experiencing each moment, each breath, and each footstep on the trail. Run aimlessly. Run to find something new out there. Run to find something new awakening inside of you. Let it humble you. Let it break you down. Be relentless. Be adventurous. Be inspired by all that lays before you. Run to feel the elements run through every bone in your body. Run for purity and clarity. Run for invigoration and zest for life. Run for the smell of clean forest air and the taste of freedom. If you don’t know what freedom tastes like, then you’ve never run far enough. Freedom is invigorating; it is the lifeblood inside of you that swells with dignity, perseverance, and energy enough to take on the world. Seek a trail and you seek to experience another magnitude of life. There is a very good possibility you will be a different person than when you started, but only if you dare to go far enough to find it.
“Running is a road to self-awareness and reliance-you can push yourself to extremes and learn the harsh reality of your physical and mental limitations or coast quietly down a solitary path watching the earth spin beneath your feet.” – Doris Brown Heritage
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