Woke up this morning after a restless night and lo and behold I had no one to coach! No where to be, so I drove over to the Y to do the Sunrise Run with whomever. Not a big group this morning (pssst, people, it ain't going to get any cooler than it is at 5:30) and off we went. I got to run with Randy, Jack, David and Caroline none of whom I've run with in a while and speaking for me, despite the humidity, it was a GREAT run. The sunrise was gorgeous (thank you, Lord), the company was interesting, and I felt good.What a way to start the day. Yeah it's hot, but hey it's mid-August, summer is winding down not heating up. Saw one guy walk out of the 'Y' headed for a brisk walk as we returned...he was back within 5 minutes. "Hot out there" he said to me, as I was standing there dripping like I'd just gotten out of the pool. "Yes, Captain Obvious, it is." I felt like Bill Engval, "here's your sign." Nothing like a good run with friends to 'right the ship'. I do enjoy most everyone I coach, but some people that I run with make it (running) fun. They are smart, insightful, witty, or just good 'people' to be around. That's what I enjoy most about running; I mean I enjoy the calories BURNED (I enjoyed them going in too...too much, dang it), I enjoy the health benefits, I enjoy nature (sunrises and sunsets), I enjoy the competition with myself and with Father Time (so far he's kicking my tail) and so much more. However, there's a whole world of people that I would never have met or gotten to know had I not started running. Some are younger (again, not many left that are older), none cuter (ha!), smarter, faster, married, single, and in every stage of life imaginable and all just some of the best people around. I've run with Kenneth and Al off and on for 16 years (from Alaska to Vancouver to Dublin) and though we may not run together or see each other for months, on any given Sunday we can pick right back up. I've got some friends I've done interval work with as we trained for marathons, early in the morning we didn't speak much (not awake, then running hard), but still something comforting about their presence, their friendship. I can run with my wife and in the latter stages of a long run barely a word passes between us and it's still all good. I wish I could articulate this better, but the camaraderie, the friendship, the company running has given me is priceless. That's why today was such a good run, I realized it during the run and remembered it after the run. These people, they aren't 'running friends' they are FRIENDS who run....my oh my what a wonderful day.