My plan is to run Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday this week. I ran 4 miles today, average pace 9:37/mi. I ran the 2000 N route, leaving out the steep mile up and back down 2000 N. I kind of felt like a real runner again this morning, venturing away from home, pushing up a steep hill, cruising down a big hill, holding rhythm and pace on the flat, pushing the pace toward the finish. It felt good, even if it was only 22° or so. I felt some slight numbness in my right foot again near the end, but my feet are feeling better. I also felt some pain and stiffness in my right hip. I think part of the problem is that after so much time off my whole body and soul need to readjust to running again. I've lost cardiovascular, muscular, and even mental fitness. I'm happy to discover, however, that what I haven't lost is my enjoyment of running. The shoulders are pretty much clear of snow, and there wasn't much traffic out. Still, at one point I was running along and noticed that a car was going to pass me just as I was going to get to a big pile of snow on the shoulder. I thought of how often things like that seem to happen...getting in the slowest checkout lane at the store or on the freeway...or having a slow car towing another car pull out from the shoulder just ahead of you then drive 20 mph under the speed limit. I thought that in reality those things probably don't happen so often, we just notice them more than when we are running along unimpeded, or cruising along in the fast lane, or when there is no line to check out. I thought of how we can control our attitude, and how it can affect our happiness. If we try to focus on the good times, and use the bad times to help us appreciate the good times even more, we'll be a lot happier than focusing on the bad times and more or less ignoring the good times. When I saw the snow pile and the approaching car, all I had to do was shift to running on the sidewalk behind the snow pile until the car passed. Even if I would have had to stop to wait for the car, or even trudge through the snow pile, it's not that big a deal. Exercising, wandering, pondering and Paulosophizing. It's good to be running again.
| 