Two days ago I decided that I wanted to get back in shape, and be as healthy a person as I can be. That means more fruits and vegetables (I refuse to let New York make me lazy about produce!), running regularly, and the cessation of a bad habit that I picked up back when I was a sullen teenager. Well, several of those bad habits.

It's always been an alluring vision of mine to be someone outdoorsy, who loves nature and can just step outside and run a couple miles to relieve stress. When I was in college I knew a girl who spent most if not all of her time in shorts, a sports bra, t-shirt and sneakers so that "I can run a mile whenever I want." Sometimes I wish I could do that - what a freedom that is, you know?

Anyway, yesterday I woke up before the sun and ran a couple miles in dawning Brooklyn Heights before work. I started feeling the tightness in my stomach and back muscles right away and it continued on through today, but I came home from work and did another couple miles in Park Slope anyway. I know this is a really romantic notion, but maybe the cold has held off as a way to push me back into this routine. The temperature right now is perfect - not too warm, just cool enough that I can wear a t-shirt and a thin hooded sweatshirt and feel fine, and it smells so crisp, like the lingering autumn.

All the silly emotional things that have been plaguing me are just erased right now, and I'm just so content with me, and so alive.