In the zone

I mentioned in another post how when I run, I would think about random things. But I realized that when I run now, I pretty much think of nothing.

My run begins up a rather steep hill. I am not sure if that is the best way to start a run, but I can say during the couple of minutes it takes me to get up what feels like a mountain, I am pretty much sucking wind and could not possible think of anything else. The next few minutes I am mostly trying to recover (i.e., stop gasping for air) while attempting to look like this is easy for me. The reason for the facade? I don't want the numerous parents who drive by me on their way to the school to think I am out of shape. Crazy, I know. I don't care if someone thinks my hair is too flat (it is) or that I dress like a poor college student (many dress better than I). But for the love of Pete, the thought of someone thinking I am struggling while running is almost unbearable.

But I digress. When I ran on Wednesday, I actually looked at the cars that passed me (something I pretty much never do), and at least five people waved to me. I am pretty sure they were all parents on their way to school; I recognized most of the cars. I wonder if these people normally wave to me, and I am just too much in the zone to notice (or too busy gasping for air while trying to look unfazed).

I am going to try to be more observant when I run next week and concentrate on more than not getting run over or tripping. But I am not going to lie: I will still continue to pretend like running up that hill is barely a strain.