If the foothills could talk, they would say, “Welcome back, Danny!”. At least that’s what I felt they were saying on this evening’s run. It’s been about three months since the Leadville 50 race. Since then, I haven’t ran much, mainly because I was burned out from running and wanted to enjoy another favorite sport Colorado has to offer, mountain biking.
Tonight was my first run back where I felt recharged to begin running on a regular basis again. I couldn’t ask for a better evening. I came home from work and waited for Kenny while he finished up some of his own work. We head out the door and planned a 5 mile route that we always run. As we’re running, we share our usual chit chat about girls, running, cooking and whatever else comes to mind. We reach the parking lot, and decided to stay there for a few minutes to enjoy the beautiful Colorado sunset that was occurring.
As we’re standing there, we just took in the gorgeousness mother nature provided us. The aspens changing color, red color of the dying grass, pinkish hue in the air, and the calm breeze blowing over the reservoir. Talk about serenity.
We started making our way back to the house. Along the trail, we spotted a few deer, then a few more, and next thing we knew, we saw about twenty deer looking curiously at us on each side of the trail. It was then when I noticed how quiet and alone we were. It’s always an indescribable feeling when you’re on a trail and have it all to yourself. Serenity. I tried imagining how a photograph would look looking down on us a little bit from a far. Two runners in nature, completely in solitude.
I’m grateful to respond to them, “Thanks, Glad to be back!”.