Where I live now is the first place I’ve ever lived where I’ve felt comfortable wandering around my neighborhood after dark. Okay, relatively comfortable. I definitely have a great fear of a Liam Neeson Taken scenario.
That being said, when my lovely friend Jessica agreed to keep me accountable to working out daily, I was so grateful that, even if I got home late and it was dark out, I could simply walk outside my door and exercise around my neighborhood. I got used to making circles around the block: first one loop around, then two, then back up the adjacent street. Over time, I would recognize my neighbors, notice their cars, make note of those who left their garages doors open, which ones cooked, who used the laundry detergent chock-full of fragrance…your typical neighborhood vibe.
My husband’s exercise locations are quite the opposite. While JC knows our neighbors better than I do, he’d never willingly run around the neighborhood. “Too much car exhaust,” he’d say. If he was going to be active, he’d take the 15-minute drive to the local-ish nature spot, the Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve and Ecological Reserve (the Back Bay, as it’s known to locals). I would scoff a bit to myself and think, why waste 30 minutes of your day driving if you simply don’t need to? But one day, I agreed to go with him. Now, granted, I had been to the Back Bay plenty of times. In fact, I loved the Back Bay. I met JC when he lived in one of the neighborhoods that surrounds it, and we’d been going there together for over a decade. But if I was just exercising (checking off that box, so to speak), around the block was acceptable!
There are many sides to the Back Bay. It’s a huge 13-mile loop with a lake in the middle. It’s right in the heart of Orange County, right underneath the flight path for John Wayne Airport. JC had been running on a side we’d never been to together. We’ll call it “the flat side.” His reason for choosing this new location? Easier to judge your running progress when you don’t have hills to contend with! The first time I went with him, I would have called it “the boring side.” It was so flat. And so paved! Why not just be in my neighborhood again?
But I kept being drawn back there, and over time, I started to notice more details of our new running spot. At about the five-minute mark, the road curves around, and there is always an amazingly cold breeze that hits you out of nowhere. There are ducks! Ducks that are so unsure of your presence that they’ll swim away from you, only to turn back towards the shore immediately after you pass them, over and over again. There is a massive hill at about the 10-minute mark, which gives you shade for days and an even greater sense of awe at the grandness of nature. In the fog, the landscape transforms to a mystical lake town. At sunset, the hills are set ablaze.
After a few weeks of working out at the Back Bay, I told Jessica that I felt ready to take a break from the accountability and work towards some true behavior change on my own. Around this time in my life, I was also getting some health coaching. I shared the decision to take a break from accountability with my coach, and I’ll never forget when she reflected back to me the benefit that exercising in nature had given me. She even brought out something I had previously glossed right over: the way I spoke of the other people I’d see at the Back Bay. The expert runners who I would get tons of inspiration from. The road bikers speeding past me, smiling for that brief second. Even the photographer, capturing those beautiful ducks! They all validated what this place had become to me: a truly magical place that drew me in and filled me with the inspiration to keep coming back day after day. I’ve always been one for connection, and the Back Bay always left me feeling connected, not only to the utter beauty of this special location, but to humanity itself. My coach helped me realize that my newfound consistency in my workout routine was, above all, due to where I was working out in the first place.
I’m still so grateful for my safe neighborhood, but I’m also so grateful that I’ve found the power in true enjoyment. Because that’s really what it is. I kind of suck at running. I love it, but it’s hard. However, I keep working at it. When I’m not running, I can’t get it out of my head. I remember what it was like in the beginning, when my hip flexors got stronger, and I would feel my legs extending with much less effort. Progress! I truly enjoy the process of improvement and connecting with my body. And now, there is this second draw: the connection to nature, and the connection to those beautiful souls who also have, at that same moment, for whatever reason, chosen to be at the Back Bay. We share smiles, silent encouragement, inspiration. We have designated, by our presence, that we are in a beautiful and worthy place. It’s not just where we can conveniently get to, but where we choose to be.
There is a lot of power in recognizing your roadblocks—what stands in the way of where you want to be. However, it can also be equally powerful to recognize what draws you in and what keeps you coming back for more.
Funny enough, I haven’t gone for a run around the block recently. I’ll make the time to take that 15-minute drive. JC just laughs now. He’ll remind me, “Who wants to smell car exhaust when you can breathe fresh air and watch the ducks!?” Right, he is.
And now, picture time!
Enjoy!
Mindful Movements Health Coaching 