Landscape
Kudos to someone in Berkeley and Albany for planting wildflowers along the Ohlone Greenway and its southbound extension in Berkeley. Much better than water-hogging lawn (are you listening El Cerrito and Richmond?).
I've been anxious about the length of my recovery time, mostly because I am committed to serving as a pacer for the See Jane Run half marathon on June 22. I'm going to pace in the back of the pack, at a pace that's slow even for me, so I really shouldn't be worried. But there's a wild card--I can't run/walk as a pacer. This means I have to start consistently training at a steady running pace. Luckily, I have a solid base left from my marathon training. Last Tuesday, and then Thursday, and then again today, I was able to run consistently, without walking, at a pace that's faster than what I need for SJR.
Since run/walking the LA Marathon on March 9, and having a lot of fun doing it, I've been working on my inner landscape in trying to accept the lengthy recovery time I've faced. Because I didn't run the marathon fast, I figured I would bounce right back in a week or two. Wrong. This past Tuesday, April 22, I finally felt more or less bounced back. More that a month after the race!
I've been anxious about the length of my recovery time, mostly because I am committed to serving as a pacer for the See Jane Run half marathon on June 22. I'm going to pace in the back of the pack, at a pace that's slow even for me, so I really shouldn't be worried. But there's a wild card--I can't run/walk as a pacer. This means I have to start consistently training at a steady running pace. Luckily, I have a solid base left from my marathon training. Last Tuesday, and then Thursday, and then again today, I was able to run consistently, without walking, at a pace that's faster than what I need for SJR.
This morning I ran more than 5 miles before I made myself walk a bit (don't want to get toooo vigorous this far out from race date). I did have aching in my left hip flexor and my right glute, but no pain alarming enough to shut me down. The positive takeaway for me is that even though walking a bit was the sensible thing to do, I didn't want to, even for 45 seconds. In my previous outings leading up to this week, because of fatigue and pain, I had to walk fairly frequently.
I understand the danger of letting only wildflowers populate my inner landscape. Too many times my enthusiasm has gotten terminally tangled with the dandelions and crab grass that find that inner space to be fertile ground. But hey, it's spring--the sky is light out there by 5:30 a.m.--and I'm feeling blessed to be covering some ground. There are probably foxtails and nettles ahead, but for today, which is the only day I'm in, I'm enjoying the flowers.
Comments