One foot in front of the other, just walk to begin.  Pick up the pace, breathe in and out.  The heart starts to race, and the body starts to sweat; your breathing grows faster, inhale through the nose and out through the mouth.  Find your rhythm steady, slow at first, and gain speed, steady.  On a good run, the world fades away, and my music, Podcast, or audiobook takes over.  I do stay conscious of my surroundings because I am a female that runs alone.  Don’t let all the runners in the world fool you into believing running is a fun & easy sport. It is not.  Running is hard no matter in which climate you live.  I, however, live on a tropical island, and running in 98% humidity makes it extremely hot and harrowing to breathe, regardless of the time of day you choose to go out.  I usually hope for a light rain when I run, to have cold raindrops fall on my hot, sweaty skin, making it tolerable to run in the Guam heat.  I used to love running; we were best friends.  It was my fitness and my therapy.  I would always sign up for a race in the fall or spring; I preferred to run in the cold but since I have decided to live in a place that is never cold, running and I have become more acquaintances instead of good friends.  But in 2020, I decided to change that. Don’t get me wrong, I have completed three half marathons on this lovely hot island, but each one sucked more than the previous one, but I try not to let it discourage me.  I am a runner.

Three weeks into training for another half marathon last year was a struggle.  I went on a four-mile run one day, and it was the worst run I had done in a long time. I guess any run is a good run because you put in the effort, but it was hot, and I just could not keep running; I stopped to walk a lot.  The blackbirds had me so paranoid that they would attack at any moment that I could not find my rhythm.  You see, the thing about running on certain parts of the island is we have angry blackbirds throughout part of the year, yes, real angry birds.  During their mating season, these birds will not hesitate to swoop down on you and try to attack if they sense you are too close to their nests.  They make an ear-piercing squawking sound and fly close enough to your head to let you know they mean business—vicious little creatures.  I remember watching the Alfred Hitchcock movie “The Birds” when I was a kid; it was scary, but I also knew it was fiction, or so I thought.  There are few things more terrifying than being intimidated by birds as you are out for a run, dogs; yes, but they warn you with their barking, but birds just come out of nowhere.  I give myself credit for staying out there for four miles, but it was frightening.

I’ve learned to evade the angry birds by driving to a different part of the island to run during the summer.  However, there seems to be no way to avoid the humidity.  Running is an activity that I would encourage anyone to try if you are looking for a way to heal life’s hurts, stress, or just looking for a simple workout.  I finished my half marathon last year.  It was hot, and I was slow, but I accomplished it without the attack of any angry birds.  Running is liberating; it challenges your body to limits unknown.  It clears the mind of stress; it can push you to pain and move you to healing.