Maybe not on fire, but certainly smokin'. Mother Nature helped me out this morning by melting most of the snow in the area. Everything is now disgusting shades of brown, dirty white and gray and there's thick fog everywhere.
But I ran today. Outside. 2.5 miles.
It was fabulous and comical. I'm Magoo blind without correction (young readers: read, "can't see hand in front of face") and something is amiss with my left eye, so I've been wearing glasses. It was rather interesting as I ran under raining oak trees and through thick clouds. Then even my own breath was fogging up my glasses, so I started to exhale as if through a piccolo. I overdressed, so half-way through I was flopping a fuzzy glove like a flag in each fist. Donning my "see nothin but me in the fog" yellow vest, I'm sure I was the brightest part of anyone's day, but I couldn't see faces through my own fog.
Didn't matter. I was on fire. All I needed was a smidge of clear glass to see through and to run AWAY. This running in place thing, even if on a slab of moving sidewalk... is for the birds. Once I run away, I have something to run back to. If I choose to run further... I have to contract with myself to get home again. I can't step off the track and call it a day. I am my own ride home. It's empowering. I can because I must.
And home looks so much better once you've been away, doesn't it?
Monday, January 7, 2008
Smokin' Outside!
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2 comments:
Really nice writing. Keep doing more. I liked the idea of the contract that you make with yourself the further you run. You reminded me of someone who went sailing one day and went downwind first on a windy day and didn't think about the upwind sail for the return to the yacht club.
Julz...way to go! In my running research, I've found the story of Helen Klein who, at 85, still runs marathons. She lives in Sacramento, is a retired nurse, used to smoke, and didn't start running until age 55. She progressed from barely being able to run two blocks to completing 50K ultra marathons. Her 'finish what you start' mantra has become MY running mantra. Just thinking of her story helped me finish a 10-mile run the other day!! Anyway, keep it up...it gets easier, especially with well-planned rest days! Deb
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