Of Trail Dogs and Runners High

So today I took the dogs to AEDC mountain bike trail for a 5K run. There were a couple of mountain bikers I know already out on the trail so I leashed the dogs instead of letting them run loose. I use a combo belt leash for Brando,the Perfect Trail Dog and attach a long lead to Emmylou, the Wild Thing Puppy. She wears a standard harness and leads the way. Brando stays right at my side as if he is off leash trained. I realized something today. Emmy LOVES to pull and she was attempting to pull 200 lbs of me for 3.1 miles. This wore her out as well as her running loose for 6 miles! She has been tired and very well behaved all day! From day one of running with me, Brando has always been the perfect trail partner, stays right at my side, on leash or off and never runs off. Of course he was 6 years old when he started running with me and is the best behaved dog I have ever had. Emmylou is a work in progress. She started running with us at about 6 months of age. She loves to run over, around, under or through anything in her path when off leash. But today she showed just how smart she is. When I leashed her, she stayed right on the trail, never veering left or right or entangling us all into a heap of arms and legs. So proud of her!
     Almost everyone who runs or who knows someone who runs has heard the term "runners high". It supposedly happens when the endorphins produced by intense exercise causes a feeling of well-being, pain free, effortless movement. It's usually associated with long distance running. Let me preface my thoughts with a bit of my love/hate relationship with running. Anyone who knows me, knows that I do triathlons. Anyone who knows me well knows that running is my least favorite of the 3 disciplines. I am built like a linebacker, not a runner, and I am SLOWWWWW!! But today I realized that for me, the runner's high isn't about distance, speed or form. I literally felt my chest open up, my breathing became effortless and for a brief time I felt as if I could fly. THAT is the runner's high. It might last a minute or an hour; a hundred yards or several miles. But it's THAT feeling that I unconsciously chase every time I lace up and go. For that brief time I feel like a runner and not like a cinder block with arms and legs. It's freedom. It's the freedom that only comes from moving one's body through space and time using this perfectly imperfect human form that we borrow for our brief time on the planet. So everyone bundle up and stay warm through these next few days of intense cold in the South and always do WHAT MOVES YOU!