Run, Cindy, Run!

I decided to go running today, I haven't run in months.

I only ran because I promised Sarah, and also because the weather app on my phone told me that temperatures were only going down.

This felt like the last warm summer evening in a long time, which, when I said out loud, sounded like it should mean something. So I decided to make the drive and run in a neighbourhood that wasn't mine.

Earlier this summer, I learned how to run though an app that gradually increased your running distance until you reached 10K. It was a 14 week program. I got to the end of Week 13 before I stopped to study for an upcoming exam.

It's hard to remember why you enjoy running if you're not running; I only ever liked running when I was in the middle of a run. And so, I never went back to finish Week 13. But that's okay, I restarted at Week 1 today, feeling like a high school student who somehow found herself back in a Grade 5 classroom; it's pleasantly easy, but a tiny bit less easy than I had expected, or would be willing to admit.

While running, I remembered the last time I trained on Week 1, in April, which now feels like a lifetime away. Back then, the spring air was cold with a hint of warmth, in the same way that a slight chill now permeates through the summer breeze. Even thinking about it now makes me nostalgic for those mornings when summer was just beyond the horizon. After a long winter, there was nothing like the feeling of warmth rushing back.

The days now are noticeably shorter. Tonight, I ran mostly in the dark.

I enjoyed it, and I remembered why I had always favoured the night.

If I squinted my eyes and turned my head the right way, the street looked exactly like my parents' street, once my street, where I did most of my growing up. And if I closed my eyes completely and let the fragrances from nearby restaurants waft by, I was taken back to summer evenings in China, where night markets could be toured through the sense of smell alone.

In a period of my life when things feel brand new, and intimidatingly so, I needed this reminder that the past always cycles, disguised but waiting to be found.

And so, for that sole reason alone, I need to keep running.