Top 10 Run

I think I've written this before, but a lot of what running is to me is a never ending quest for the perfect run, or at the very least, what I call a "top 10 run."  It's that simple, for me anyway.  

It's really the secret answer to the question I get from time to time - "Why do you like to run?" or "Why do you run so much?"  It's the best answer I can give to the question, anyway.  

If I run 100 times in a given year, I consider myself lucky if I have 2 or 3 "top 10 runs."  I think those type of runs are hard to come by because there are so many variables that all have to be in the right place, working together, for me to have a "top 10 run."  

My mood is important.  Am I happy and content?  How do I feel, physically? (although I've learned to live with a fairly constant amount of pain in my low back and right hip)  Am I worried about anything in particular - family, work, etc?  Is anything in my life bothering me or nagging at my psyche?  What is the weather like?  Do I have the right gear for particular run?  Is the podcast I'm listening to captivating (B.S. Report nee Bill Simmons Podcast, This American Life, The Lowe Post, WTF w/Marc Maron.  Am I in a hurry, trying to squeeze a run in, or do I have plenty of time?  Am I tired?  

See, there's a lot of moving parts.  Don't get me wrong, I can still have good runs if my mind, mood and body are not right, so to speak.  I just can't have great, or "top 10 runs," the kind of runs I'm always looking for. 

Today, I had a "top 10 run."  We woke up this morning to giant snowflakes falling from the sky, like the fake snow you see on television or in Broadway plays.  The snow quickly accumulated on the ground as it became apparent we were in the midst of a "winter event."  Winter storm Jonah, as it were.  

When the boys and Jude went down for a nap this afternoon, about 3:00 p.m., I decided to head out for a run.  In 30 degree weather with snow falling and 7 inches of snow on the ground.  In shorts w/my lightweight running mittens I've had for 20 + years and get to use a couple times a year).  Damn, just the way I like it. 

I ran down Belmont Blvd. to David Lipscomb, then across campus.  It was breathtakingly gorgeous with brilliant white snow covering the ground everywhere I looked.  Tree limbs along the route sagged low, laden with snow.  The snow fell almost in crystals, stinging my face as I ran.  I wasn't at all cold, although the wind blew in my face as I made my way back up Granny White Pike/12th Avenue.  

I felt strong, alive and more like me then I've felt in a while.  It's easy, it seems, to lose myself - to lose who I am - in the busy and sometimes mundane details of daily work and family life.  A run like I had today helps me find myself again.  I'm not sure how or why, but it does.  And it did today.