Running Commentary

We paws for a moment to bring you the above photo. This was taken yesterday when I squeezed in a 4-miler before a busy day began. I wore my new shoes , which made my gimpy left knee happier than it's been for a while. Who'd have thought an eighth of an inch of rubber sole (the amount that was worn off the heels of my old shoes) could make such a difference. Anyway, I had so much fun that I decided to do the same run again this morning. It was cool and foggy in the early a.m., which imbued my running experience with a gentleness that made for a peaceful introduction to the day. I value the effects of such salubrious intervals as I careen from the private life into the public, a life in a marketplace that is filled with too many things and and too many people to greet with much equanimity. Today's run was a little more work than yesterday's, but I was happy to find that the only stop sign I had a close encounter with had been rendered pretty ineffectual. More ineffectual ...

First, the injury report. My knee still hurts--not much less, but not more. I'm going to buy some long-overdue new shoes and see whether that helps. If not, it's off to the medical community for help. I'd rather avoid that, of course, but I'd also like my knee back. Second, the title of this post. I did a nice, frisky 8-miler this morning. It is Sunday, a day for which I have a few plans, but really a day when I can afford to relax a bit. I realized as I ran that I seldom run in the spirit of relaxation--usually I go out to up my mileage or to test my knee or to keep from getting fat or, or--you get the idea. So this morning I decided to play a bit, to stop glancing at my watch and (gasp) enjoy myself. The first good laugh I got was when I attempted to pull myself up on the above bar. Ha ha, indeed. I have great lower body strength. The upper, she's not so much. In the photo maybe you can sense what kind of a morning it was--soft and gray, a typical Bay Area foggy S...

...and fruit flies like bananas. Both parts of that statement are true, so now you have your little bit of veritas for the day. This is a quick update. I can't believe I've let so much time go by between posts. Whew. Anyway, I believe that when I last checked in I was bemoaning the pain of a gimpy left knee (my left knee, to be specific). The pain did seem to go on and on, but I'm happy to say that it's felt better over the past few days. I don't think I hurt it running the marathon--more likely I did it when in my post-race exuberance I did a hilly street run followed by a 10-mile run followed by a Tilden 8.5 miler. I forgot to consider my trusty hinges. They're trusty, not titanium, so they can get rusty (only said that because it meant I could use trusty and rusty in the same sentence--forgive?). Anyway, I did a 6-miler yesterday and felt fine during and after the event. While I've been busy not blogging, I've been working a lot and eating a lot (they...

My mother. Seen here at age one. She was inimitable. For better or for worse, I am a lot like her. She drove me crazy sometimes, but she never bored me. Some mornings I wake up and think I'll give her a quick phone call--and then I remember. She's gone. And here she is at age 93. She gave me so much, and really didn't ask for much in return. I love you, Ma--miss you.

Yes, that's the mural on the outside wall at the local pool. I'm off the road and back in the swim. I'm having to admit that my aching knee is more than merely a nuisance--it is injured. The tipoff has been that the pain in it hasn't lessened over the last few weeks. I'm still in denial enough that I think if I ease off running a bit and continue to wrap it, ice it, and (gently) strengthen it, I won't have to endure too much down time. Coming out of denial means, however, that I really can't consider running the SF Half Marathon on August 3. I need to be running only short distances and only on soft surfaces. Next week I plan to swim once or twice more and do two three- to four-mile runs. We'll see how that goes. I can't decide whether doing a hike-a-ganza Sunday with Z further exacerbated my boo-boo (the technical term for an injured knee). We did walk up and down some impressive hills, but not at a very swift pace or in an especially aggressive sty...

Happy Fourth of July! (Text color honors the holiday. I'm no jingoist, but this is my country, and most days I'm mighty glad it is.) Of the last three runs I've done, two have been in the East Bay regional parks I can get to easily from my house. The camera photo above is from Tilden , taken on a day when the fog was roiling in and the wind was howling. "Roiling" is not a typo. Ah, summer in the Bay Area! I did eight hilly miles on Nimitz Way. In the days that followed, my gimpy knee let me know it wasn't pleased. I ignored it, seeing as how the rest of my body liked that run a lot fog and hills and all. Then today I did about four miles on the East Ridge trail in Redwood park with my friend R. Four easy miles (yes a few hills included), and my knee doesn't seem as outraged as it did after the Tilden run. The runner's rule for treating injuries is RICE (not the grain, silly--but R est, I ce, C ompression, and E levation). I'm good about doing the...