After fourteen years we are moving to a different town. It is a time of transition and change. Amongst other things, it obviously means leaving this neighborhood, not being here anymore, day-to-day.
Not to overthink this, but how do you bid farewell to a neighborhood – the place, the environment – that you have spent so much time in?
I have experienced this neighborhood and its streets and few parks most intensely by running. Over the years, I have run here many hundreds of times, covering thousands of miles.
To be frank, I never thought this was a particularly awesome area to run; I have run here because it is there and it begins, of course, right outside the door. You try to mix it up, but there is only so much you can do over time. Taking an activity that is already deeply repetitive, you play it out in the same neighborhood, over and over, again and again, for years.
I have exerted sweat and tears, running (and sometimes limping) these streets. Hundreds of hours of exercise, joy and boredom, impatience and perseverance, accomplishments, pain and learning – love and hate. The place of course is just there, indifferent.
This Saturday morning, there seemed one clear answer on how to properly end this chapter. After running with the dog for five miles, I got him situated with breakfast at home — and headed back out for just over twenty-one more miles. A marathon in total, not just for the distance, but also for the time needed to appreciate what this is.
Listening to a podcast or two as well as experiencing deliberate silence and that inner monologue. The raw enjoyment of the activity, fatigue and pain over time. Being surprised by the warmth of the morning and wondering, if sunscreen would have been a good idea after all. Pausing in the park for a break and snacks after about twenty-one miles, staring out at the water. The refreshing relief of a light rain, as the weather turned during the last couple miles.
Finishing, when it is done.
This was not a quick, nor an easy run.
It was a memorable one.
It was gratitude and respect.
It was good-bye.
🏃