I’m here, sweat dripping down my neck, fresh off a trail run. Words fight to be unleashed. I obey:
At first I’m only aware of the lack of oxygen in my lungs and intense pain in my thighs. I know it always starts this way. I run through it. I watch only three, maybe four feet ahead of me. Have to look for cracks in the Earth, roots, dips. Missing one could be disastrous.
I surge ahead, turn my music up, pushing through the awkwardness of the start. Waiting for my rhythm.
The concentration lures my mind inward. Focuses it. Feet pound off banks and leap gnarled roots. My peripheral turns to a streaky blur. The pain is gone….I’m in the zone.
And that’s when it happens. The metamorphosis is swift.
I’m no longer me. I’m someone else entirely, in her skin, seeing through her eyes. Scenes write themselves, and I know just how she’ll react because at that moment, we share a soul.
My body rips up the trail like a deer, but my mind is far away. In another world. In hers.
If you ever see me out there, on the trail, and you wave hello, pardon if my eyes seem a little glazed, or the glint of recognition is late to sparkle in them.
They’re not mine.
How about you? What gets you in your character’s skin? Music? Solitude? I can’t wait to hear!
Beth Teliho 
Very cool! I quite understand this, kinda, having only ‘found my rhythm’ last week for the first time. Pretty awesome stuff it was, too.
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I should say you did! You run like a mo-fo! haha! Thanks Lizzie!
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That is my experience with running, too – except with more laziness. 😉 No seriously, I get my best ideas while running.
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Cool! It must be something with the endorphins. Thanks, Natalie!
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Oh how I wish this were true for me but I hate, hate running. I was actually in track in highschool and I suffered through every minute of it. For it is movement with music that connects me in, sometimes it is as little as a gentle sway and other times it is a whirlwind of movement.
After reading your post I wish I could connect in with running but I know it just isn’t where it is at for me. =)
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I only like trail running. Cement running is intolerable for me! Music is absolutely magical. I think it’s so cool that movement through music is what does it for you. Thanks for reading and sharing, Morgan!
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Definitely music! This was great; so vivid.
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Music is magic. Thanks for reading and for the comment! I’m glad you liked it. 🙂
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Good for you. I used to feel like that running. Now I just run with creaky joints. What makes me feel like that now? I love the bike — I love it when something I write comes together. I love being with friends. Feeling relaxed and laughing. Really laughing.
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My husband is a BIG bike rider. Kids too. I like it but not as much as trail running. Totally agree with being with friends and laughing really HARD. That’s the BEST. 🙂
thanks for reading!
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Biking’s definitely one of those things that ‘gets me in the zone’. So is driving…and seeing new places.
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I remember, Jennifer, that you’re a bike rider from when I wrote “Strays”. 🙂
Yeah, when I drive (zoned out, listening to music) I get in the zone. and travel always inspires! Thanks for reading!
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Your experience makes me wish I enjoyed running! Hiking and taking photos clears my brain and often inspired me to write.
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Those are awesome inspirers! I love hiking, too, but I take horrible photos. 🙂 Thanks for reading!
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I remember this. Your words made my soul soar and want to fly on my bicycle. Fly, fly fly. Run and run and run. However, recently, all I’ve felt is the awkward jiggly bounce and the knees. Obviously, I need to go again. And again. And again… thank you for that.
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