The weekend started with an early morning long run. I joined up with Sue and the gang for some company. The first two miles were great then I peeled off from the group as they went on for a tempo run and hill repeats.

The fresh, crisp  fall morning was beautiful and I basked in the glory of my slow, easy pace. I won’t have these types of workouts forever. It was time to savor the long slow run, time to let it accomplish it’s goal — aerobic base building.

My plan faltered slightly when I joined Sue for the last few of her hill repeats, but in the final five miles of the run, I kept my pace, slow and steady and easy, eschewing my ego which wanted me to run faster with the rest of the group. Fast was not my run today.

And today, I was going to meet myself where I was, not look at where I wanted to be.

Because you can’t get to where you want to go if you don’t embrace where you are at the present moment.

Sunday morning brought two hours on the bike trainer with a nice, steady ride followed by play time with Mark.

He took me out to Naples, N.Y. to hike at Hi-Tor and visit Angel Falls. It’s an area where he goes ice climbing in the winter, but we took a warm, sunny Sunday to check it out with the water flowing.

For the first time in my life, I walked up waterfalls. We treaded on unmarked paths and climbed as far as we could before turning back and then picking up a traditional hiking trail. I only fell twice (granted, once was a slip up a small waterfall and included banging into rock for the only part of the day I would gladly have skipped) and had just one panic attack (when we were scaling down the side of a hill, my footing was iffy and, well, I got scared). But that’s part of the beauty of adventure and part of having amazing people in your life who meet you where you’re at and hold your hand when step outside your comfort zone. It’s the lesson I’m learning to live out this week — to really enjoy the present moment, to celebrate where I’m at rather than be frustrated that I’m not where I’d like to be. A challenge for me to live out for sure, as I battle the false notion that if I’m not somehow perfect, I will lose those people and events and even things which I cherish most.

First, I must start with where I already am.

And if I trust and live that, it will bring me right to very place I desire to be.