True beauty in the park

5 good miles today. I'll try and knock down 4 in the morning tomorrow, but I have a very bad record of getting up in the morning and running.

But the real point of today's post...

Yesterday, while running in the park I saw a thing of true beauty. And no, it wasn't attached to a sports bra or in any way related to the "wildlife" that can be found in the local running Mecca of Houston during the deepest, hottest parts of the summer.

No, this was a thing of true, true beauty. An inspirational sight that my imagination STILL cannot release.

As I was chugging through my second mile yesterday at what I thought was a decent clip, it happened. Three guys come cruising up on my left in a V formation. Their backs straight, their heads held up high, eyes forward, a light banter going on between them. Then I looked at their FEET. They were keeping an identical cadence, all had identical strides, and their footfalls were so light. The balls of their feet hit at exactly the same time, just under their knees, and then seemed to just slide back.

It was so easy, so light, and so smooth.

It was truly beauty in motion.

For just a brief moment I was able to follow behind them and keep their pace (it was a blistering pace for me, but so light and smooth for them). It felt like I was running with gazelles! It was so light and breezy and inspirational. It's HOW I want to run.

And these guys... they were like ghosts. They seemed to appear over my left shoulder out of nowhere, and then after a few moments of pacing with them they were gone just as quickly as they showed up. I've actually seen them around the platforms--they're always there. But I've never seen them actually running.

But now I have. And wow. I so want some of that.