Time marches on

I am finally running again. The past 6 months has been my longest hiatus from consistent running since... 8th grade! It is funny because these days, when I run, I have to remind myself how much time has passed. I still enjoy running on the Bear Trail, a 2.4 mile loop on Baylor campus. Since I started running that trail in August of 2001, life sure has changed! I have a lot of history there. I ran that trail when it was mostly runnner-friendly gravel; I ran it as I watched monstrous buildings go up. I have run the Bear Trail five or more times in a row to train for marathons; I have run it with my double jogging stroller. I have run the trail with friends, by myself, and with my kids... both in utero and in the jogging stroller. I have run the trail as a freshman in college, single, dating, engaged, married, and pregnant. I have run the trail in the dark hours of the morning and in the wee hours of the night. When I set out to run the Bear Trail for the first time this season, I enjoyed watching students go about their lives. I wonder, when I am not with my kids, how old I look to those students. They sure look young and little to me! For me, it feels like hardly any time as passed since I ran my first lap.