I open my eyes. I blink. I check my phone to see what time it is. It’s five minutes before 3AM. I close my eyes as I try to think what day it is and why I am awake at this hour. Then the memories of the past days of this week burst into my brain. It’s Sunday! Before my phone plays the alarm song, my thumb is already waiting for the off button to appear.
“Wake up!” is the default message I send to my running buddy. “Get up, let’s run!”, I call her, if she doesn’t respond right away. I go to the bathroom right after the call and go for a quick shower. My eyes are still adjusting to the lights, yet I’m smiling to myself in the mirror. I then rush back to my room and do my after bath rituals. I then patiently put myself inside my tight and dry-fit running clothes. I wear my yellow socks and paired it with my favorite Asics GT-2000, which colors are grass green with fuchsia pink laces. I eat a banana and drink a glass of water. I’m ready! “I’m going out now. See you in a bit!”, I tell my friend.
Sunday is running day, our favorite day of the week. Because today we run free.
The 7-Eleven store in the corner of Palm Coast Ave and Harbor Drive, in Mall of Asia grounds is our meet-up place. We buy Blue Bolt Gatorade, walk towards Seaside Boulevard, and then wait for our GPS watches to set location. Until the watch gets ready, we begin to run.
While on the road and running, we smell horrible with our sweat but it doesn’t mind. We get tan under the sun yet it sees the beauty. When we get tired, we can walk or stop for a while. The road patiently waits for us to recover. It understands that while we are strong, we still need a break. When we fall down, we can either cry or laugh loudly at ourselves. It acknowledges the fact that we also have weaknesses.
The road is not judging. We can whine about life and it’s just okay. We can be ourselves and be who we want to be. This is a perfect place to speak of what our heart feels. We can talk about our dreams without hearing an annoying laughter from somebody who doesn’t believe in us, that we are capable of climbing the top of our defined success.
Some Sundays, my running buddy is off to a trip. It’s just me and the road. My mind is telling me, “This is tough.”. “Don’t worry, I will look after you. You can do it!”, the road tells me. It did not become easier, but it made me braver. Though my legs are shaking as I got farther, it made me believe in myself. It pushes me to give more. It has seen me many times when I did it. It knows that I am capable of reaching the distance I set for that day. The road believes in me.
This is my special place. It can be anywhere in this world. My running feet and the road speak and understand each other very well, in a language of their own. I am privileged to be given a Sunday to run on it, and let my mind drift freely to everywhere and anything I could wish.
Thank you for reading and commenting. Please enter the Independence Travel Writing competition and tell your story.
