The Sign Said Stop

...so I did. This was this morning, at 7:09. The sun was finally coming up, after I'd been running for more than an hour. I skipped the track workout last night because I was still sore from Saturday's hilly fun (see previous post), so I felt I had to get out this morning. I did my version of a tempo run--a 1.5-mile warm-up, a 20-minute steady run at a pace between my 10-K and marathon paces, followed by a 1.5-mile cool-down (also known as getting home again). Gee. That description makes it sound like the run was scientific, cut-and-dried, efficient, productive. I suppose it could have been, might have been one of those things. The loose-cannon factor in that "tempo" formula is what's called "perceived effort." Some days my ostensible 10-K pace feels like the speed of a Nascar contender, while other days it feels like the speed of the loser in a turtle race. I check my Garmin periodically to make sure I'm on-pace, and I can only call my consistency approximate--at best.

Be all the details as they may, it was wonderful to be out in the pre-dawn world. Big, big moon setting in the west, a light breeze, a cloudless sky. My aches and pains told me that I'm in training. They also told me that the infrastructure is basically strong and getting stronger. It's all a blessing.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Trying to Make Lemonade

Image
What am I meant to learn from the challenges being thrown at me these days? That I am strong. That I am loved. That life goes on and can be good. My favorite nephew congratulated me for making lemonade when I'd been handed lemons--not sure his belief about me is justified, but I deeply appreciate the notion. Plus, I have an actual lemon tree in front of the house, so I've been practicing my tangy-beverage making. My ribs have healed up well. I'd say I'm at about 95%. I'm glad my minor medical matter is clearing up so I can turn my energy to a more major one: Z is scheduled for big-time surgery on March 31. He is calm; I am calm. Aaaaaaack! Oops, I meant of course I'm serene. The procedure he faces, which involves patching up some crucial circulatory parts, is a common one, and the success rate is high. But still. Send good vibes our way, if you'd be so kind. In other matters, I did run 10 miles Saturday. The run itself went well--I went down to the Bay Trai
Read more

By the Numbers

Image
10.62 -- Number of miles run (per MapMyRun) 16 -- Number of Miniwheat biscuits consumed for pre-run breakfast 3 -- Number of red lights waited for 159 -- Number of days since hip injury 5.5 -- Number of backyards along trail being eaten alive by morning glories 2 -- Number of couples arguing as they walked along 1 -- Number of chocolate Clif Shots slurped on run 12 -- Number of dogs being walked 4 -- Number of songs playing in my head at various times 10 -- Number on a scale of 1 to 10 representing my happiness over being healed
Read more

Out & Back

Image
This photo represents the cipher of the day--it means "a short out-and-back run in the dead dark of the dawn." I'm trying to get in as much mileage as possible before Christmas ever for beautiful Burbank. Z and I are going to visit the kids--the 2008 version of over the river and through the woods. He's driving; I'm going into work for a while and then flying later. I'll miss my computer. I realize that in this blog I'd like to take some time to look back and then look ahead, but also know that time for doing that may be limited in the remaining eight days of 2008. Looking back and looking ahead may be rather like an out-and-back run: I can do it, but in the end I can only find real meaning by taking step after individual step. Below, Bay Area signifiers that it's mid-winter! One interesting phenomenon I've observed over the course of my 2008 runs is that I'm manifestly back in touch with my photographic self. This has come about in such a ge
Read more