Run with Friends and the Practice of Mindfulness.

Woke up today to a gorgeous sunny morning. As discussed the night before, my friend Todd and I decided to go for a longer run. Taking a chance, we decided to run an abandoned railroad track in town. Glorious!
Before we get to the good stuff, I mist say that Route 1 is a Zen disaster! Its sooo busy, even on weekends and the loud noise from all sorts of vehicles certainly chip away at a calm and even state of mind. There is little to no room for runners on the side of the road since the municipality obviously has a tendency to neglect healthy pedestrian traffic. Although I felt the abrasiveness of the road, seeing as how it was right on top of me for 3 miles, I was already trying to put into practice the concept of choice and emotions which I picked up from a book called Zen and the Art of Running. The book is discussing motivation for running and the excuses we as people can come up with not do it on a daily basis, such as: its cold outside, its dark, Im tired and cozy in bed etc. The author claims that based on Zen practice, you must be mindful of these emotions and get to the heart of what is really going on in your head during these moments. True, it may be dark outside, but does there need to be a negative emotional response lending itself to an excuse not to run? Or can it simply be dark outside?
I admit, Im extremely new to this practice of mindfulness. I do meditate in some capacity every night before bed, but I feel that practicing this in the morning, while running as one of the first things I do in the day could be extremely beneficial for my mind and body. Although I dont feel like searching for the exact quote, Thoreau spoke in Walden about how the apex of artistic expression is not necessarily on producing something for others to ponder and look at, but, rather, is found in literally influencing the quality of your day and how you behold the world around you. As a runner, I feel that these two ideas, Zen and mindfulness, and Thoreau's ideas on influencing the quality of a day can be combined into a philosophical 6 mile jaunt through the woods!
Now, as I ran down route one, I was far less bothered by the cars than usual and I am assuming that a great deal of that was due to the presence of a very close friend of mine, Todd Horner. As my feet hit the slushy pavement I tried to remind myself that the cars are producing noise, but I can choose to acknowledge it and accept it rather than get angry at them which would inevitably impact my run negatively. Todd was having a hard time with that. "I really hate cars!" was a frequent ejaculation from his mouth! Oddly enough, I was far less affected. And I say oddly because out of all of my close friends, Todd appears to be the least worried, anxious and angry person I know. I consider his friendship and the cultivation of it a great human accomplishment! And his anger at the cars is just a reminder that even the most Zen of us still have work to do :-)
All in all, when we finally arrived on the trail, all that was there to greet us was the tracks of a snowmobile which made the snow easier to run on, and the silence of a thick forest drowsy with snow. Let's just say I will be returning there to run the entire thing as soon as possible!