My friend L, who is a certified Chi Running instructor, is fond of saying "baby steps," a reminder to work up to your running goal gradually rather than getting excited and trying to achieve it in one day. Well, I was certainly in baby step mode this morning, when I went for my first run/walk in a week. My goal is the Oakland Running Festival Half Marathon, coming up in March. Rather that obsess over how impossible it would be for me to even think about a half right now, I'm focusing instead on making a new start, a start that may or may not take me to Oakland in good shape. The point is not ORF or bust--the point is, what I did today was a success; I think I'll do it again soon.

Today? One minute walking, one minute jogging. One minute walking, one minute jogging. Etcetera. I stayed out there for 2.5 miles, in the course of which I made it over to and around the park and back with no significant pain.

I've been know to write and/or talk about my path in life. Here's how it looked this morning.

When I got back to the house I was exuberant. I was high. It struck me that I am an addict--I've been waking up in the morning fill with an unnamed dread, and I suddenly recognized that dark state as a symptom of withdrawal. How comforting to realize that I'm at the time in my life where a "run" doesn't have to be under 10 minutes a mile and doesn't have to be 10 miles long every time. A run that combines walking and running can still take my heart rate up to 120-plus and bring me home with a smile on my face.

  

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