To walk, to run; that is the question.  Pretty big stuff, huh?  Yeah, it’s the stuff of life.  My life, that is.  I’m signed up for the Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon as it makes its debut in St. Petersburg next February.  SJV and I head out a couple times a week to plod along, she more proficiently than me these days, and we’re looking at a training schedule that begins within the week.

To walk, to run.  “It doesn’t matter”, some say.  “Just do it”, I think.  “Start running and see how it feels, then make a decision as you go along”, I’ve told myself.  Go with the flow.

Flow.  I’m trying to go with the flow.  I like a good flow state as much as the next one of my million friends who finds comfort in the constant pitter patter of feet on the pavement or wheels spinning on a breezy day or the sound of water as it passes over my ear or the drone of heavy breathing in a stairwell or rhythmic inhale exhale in a yoga flow.

I’m trying to BE flow.  I’m riding the wave of time…no, I AM the wave.  Or am I time?  Either way, I’m trying to enjoy the ride of it all…being the wave, being the “low” before the “high”.  Crashing on the shore, retreating, swelling…it’s all good.

Peace like a river flows within me

Love like a waterfall pours on me

I’ll never be alone, can’t you see

Peace like a river flows on…

What a day on Bayshore Boulevard!  Trod the same path and you see the same things.  Water, houses, runners, cyclists, cars, cracks in the sidewalk.  Blue skies.  Flag in the wind.  Smiling happy faces.  It’s my place.  Peace like a river flows on.

Hope is a fire burning in my soul

And it’s particularly sunny and warm for this mid-November day.

Life is eternal

SJV heads out on a run with her “other” running partner, her 15 year old son.  Maybe he’ll do the half marathon, too.  I walk towards my beautiful friends and see that her normal Pilates trained gait is altered by her new belly.  Her smile never fades; the bump is answer to much prayer.  And time.  That flows like a river…on…on.

What a day on Bayshore Boulevard!  Trod the same path and you start to see different things.  Runners, but different ones.  New ones, young ones, struggling ones.  Mothers with baby joggers.  Pre-schoolers on weenie little bikes.

Who could ask for more?

Walking or running?  Today I say walk.

…on…think of all I could have missed

…on…I just can’t get over this

Walk.  I say walk the half marathon.  It seems the prudent thing to do.  For 2012 that is.  After that, see what the flow brings.

Faith is a light shining down on me

Mercy is a wind blowing over me

Grace has set me free

Peace like a river flows on…on.

Once again, thanks to Mac Powell, Third Day, and the new found joy of moving with my ipod.  A good song, like peace, flows on…and on.