Running is a road to self-awareness and reliance … you can push yourself to extremes and learn the harsh reality of your physical and mental limitations or coast quietly down a solitary path watching the earth spin beneath your feet. But when you are through, exhilarated and exhausted, at least for a moment everything seems right with the world…

Showing posts with label new city. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new city. Show all posts

Monday, October 15, 2012

My First Run in a New City

So I've been in Tirana for about 7 weeks now, which would put my last run at exactly 7 weeks ago.

The last run was a rough one. It was 2 days before I left the states. I went about 3 miles and my arch in my ankle was searing with pain, so when I say 3 miles I mean walking/running. Only about a mile of it was ran. I just couldn't pin point my emotions, and my mind was pacing back and forth between 2 worlds. At the time, I didn't think it would take me this long to get back into it. I mean Albania is full of mountains and beautiful sights, which means people must run all the time right? Wrong. Since living here I have seen 1 person out on an actual run in actual clothes. One. Singular. I did a double take and almost followed him just to be sure he wasn't running to catch a bus or something.

Tonight I went for my first run in Tirana. I've posted some info below.

Total time: 15:58 (pretty good considering it has been 7 weeks.)
# of stops while running: 1 (below average)
# of songs listened to: 4 (one was repeated a second time.)
# of people who laughed at me: 4 (above average)
# of stares: I'd say in the hundreds. About 75% of the people I passed stared at me.
# of man-holes I almost fell into: 2
# of time I almost got hit by a car: 1
# of times I almost tripped: 2
# of face wide smiles: 5
# of amazing views: 1 (mountains. I'll take a picture one of these times.)

I couldn't repeat the path ever again. The roads are far too curvy. I attempted to take the same path home and ended up 2 blocks away from where I started on the main road. Not the best experience of my life, but one I will probably try again.

In the words of Ryan Adams (which I listened to) "I didn't travel far, but my feet were moving."