Running Into the Sunset

Date: September 17, 2013
What: 21k training run (89:05)

For my wife, the most important person in my life.

Just another training run, after getting home from work. That is how it started out. The sun was heading toward a sunrise somewhere else. The late summer evening cool and pleasant, maybe another hour at most before it would start to get dark.

I left my house with a familiar sense of guilt and worry. I was running alone, yet it was time taken away from family and household matters. Just to be sure I got the message, the tall grass of my front lawn once again reminded me it was in need of a good mowing. Tomorrow for that, I promised myself (yet again).

I will be 49 soon and might as well be 50. Over the hill, so they say, which is where I needed to get to in this run. The first 10k of it is pretty hard work, uphill most of the way. I certainly did not wish to be away from my family any more than I had to, so I kept pressing. I turned toward the west. The sun would be setting soon, however one last hill shaded it from my view.

And that is when it hit me. I am working hard to get over that hill, so I can fly down the back side on cruise control. But my life is just the opposite. I am nowhere over the hill; rather my life has been coasting down a long easy grade, and now I am under a mountain. At nearly 50, it is not time for me to cruise, those days are over. It is now time to work my ass off for the things that matter most: my wife and family. I need to work harder than ever, to invest time and care into my relationship, not ignore it or take it for granted. I need them more than ever.

I crested the final hill and kicked up the pace. Instead of greeting a beautiful sunset, I was met with blinding rays. The brilliance made the pot-holed asphalt invisible and treacherous. Oncoming cars barely seen. This was an ominous warning, and seemingly appropriate for where I am in my life right now. I have to be careful.

Finally, the sun dipped down. That which was dangerous was now beauty to behold. The Artist had once again painted another masterpiece! This is what is waiting for me in my life, if I steer around the potholes just right. I raced onward to get back home, but by the time I returned the sunset was over and a final lesson given.

Sunsets, like all good things in life, are best when shared.

Never run into the sunset alone.