Reiki and Running

Yesterday, I ran my 12^th Great Race 10K in here in Pittsburgh. This is my favorite race to run. It’s always the last Sunday in September, and the weather is usually nice, cool, sometimes not raining. Yesterday’s race was a slight exception to the cool weather. It was cool at the beginning and foggy, but at about mile 3 the sun came out, and it got pretty hot. But anyways, this story is not about the weather. It’s about energy. When I’m running a race, I run faster than when I’m by myself, doing a training run. The Great Race is a popular one, so there’s always a lot of runners. The energy I feel there is upbeat. Being in a large crowd with people who are there to do the same thing I am is very uplifting and exhilarating. That first mile is fast, as everyone is getting into their zone. I took some time to notice the people around me this time. Really feel the energy. It is a sort of buzzing energy as people were running all around me. It felt good. Everyone was starting to “go”, breathing heavier, moving faster. I could almost see the cells in their bodies moving more, vibrating more. I just love that.

When I feel a part of my body, usually my hips, start to hurt a bit when I’m running, I will channel Reiki energy and place my hand on the spot that hurts and give myself some Reiki. It works like a charm; the pain goes away immediately. I do this for energy too. When I’m feeling like I need a boost or I’m going up a hill, I’ll ask for some energy to keep going. Energetically, I feel more open and “in the zone” when I’m running. It’s meditative for me; that’s one of the many reasons why I run. I feel Spirit more when I’m running, especially if it’s a race.

There’s a long hill at mile 4 and 5 of the Great Race, The Boulevard of the Allies. It’s one of those hills that keeps going and going for a long time. I’ve run up it a bunch of times, sometimes I struggle with it, sometimes I don’t. Yesterday, I didn’t struggle. And here’s why. I was giving myself Reiki energy in my hip, at the bottom of this hill. There was an older gentleman running to the right of me. As soon as I took my hand off my hip, the gentleman clapped his hands. I felt the energy in his clap go into my hip and through my entire body. It was like he knew exactly what I needed energetically to get up the hill. He did not know that his energy affected me when he clapped, but I felt more than ready to take on this hill yet again. In response to this, I raised my hand toward him and energetically thanked him for the clap. As soon as I returned my hand back down, he started running faster up the hill. It was amazing. I watched him run up the Boulevard of the Allies and was hoping to spot him at the finish line so I could tell him this story. But I didn’t. and that’s ok.

It was a fun run again yesterday, with family and friends. Looking forward to running it again next year!