The first taste of summer

Running through the dense woods of northern Minnesota, I finally hit the groove I've been looking for.  Summer running is where I excel, mostly because I enjoy it.  Memorial day at the lake signified the beginning of one of my favorite seasons, especially the time off from competition and the opportunity to enjoy wholeheartedly the opportunity to run.  The cool gray skies hung low overhead as I trekked over the rolling hills and down the twisting gravel road away from my grandpa's cabins.  The birds had just begun their morning chatter when my mom and I set out for our usual six miles.  As the clouds lifted and light began to filter through the leaves and pine needles, gaining intensity with every minute, I felt my legs waking up with the world around me.  We started out slowly, relaxed, getting into the groove between scattered bits of conversation.  It was interesting-- neither of us felt the need to talk much, only to enjoy the sound of the other's footfalls and the light tap of residual water dropping from the trees above us.  Comfortably warm and finally in my stride, we hit the turnaround point and my mom told me to go my own pace on the way back.  We've done this for a long time now, where we run together until I break off to do a bit more speed.  She likes it that way, says she doesn't want to feel like she's holding me back.  And no matter what I say about liking a conversation pace, she pushes me to push myself for the last few miles to get some real training benefit.  With this in mind, I slowly broke away, lowered my arms, sprung a bit more on the balls of my feet, and tapped into my aggressive stride.  With each half mile or so I felt better and better, progressively getting faster until I reached almost race pace for the last quarter mile.  It felt amazing to accelerate through the woods, a long and sustained run but hard at the same time.  Most cabin-goers were still comfortably tucked in their beds, dead to the world but helplessly content while I experienced the thrill of strength.  It's always invigorating to run at those times, when nobody's up save for early forest life.  The fire came back to my belly as I encountered the excitement of feeling powerful.  The runs I went on this weekend brought back another dimension to my love of the sport.  The purity and vitality, the wholeness one feels when traipsing through the woods, achievable through strong running.  This was a tiny taste of summer running, just enough to make me greedy for more.