Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay. - Robert Frost

I wrote this post during my last night on Maui:

In less than 24 hours, I will be on a plane winging my way back home. This sojourn in the islands has been a wonderful escape, but it cannot last. Real life, with its everyday obligations, frustrations and challenges lies waiting for me in unpaid bills, emails to answer and phone calls to return. But in this moment, I have warm sunshine on my face and ocean breezes in my hair. It is sweet because it cannot last.

And so it goes with our running. Each time we run in that magical place where it all seems easy is a gift, its nature fleeting. If only all miles were those early ones of the marathon, when all seems possible. Because it cannot last we should savor every step, tucking its memory away for those ugly runs when we question our very desire to run. In each race or relay you do, dedicate at least one mile to savoring the adventure. Give thanks that you are out there that day doing what you love. Capture the mental photos and save them for your scrapbook of memories.

For me, my latest moments were in the final descent of my last leg in the cooling breezes of Puget Sound on the Ragnar Northwest Passage race and out along the logging road around Brown's Mountain on the Cascade Lakes Relay. I gave thanks to my body for having the health to be out there. We never know when the gift may be taken away.

Ultimately the fleeting nature of running makes the journey that much more sweet, doesn't it? Like a great vacation we should focus on the journey, on the landscape, on our mindset - letting the hard driving goals fade into the background. Sure, it would be nice to win a race, but what will last will be those moments we put our faces to the sun and smiled.