Thanksgiving

Time to give thanks at this potentially slow time in my life. Papa New Guin, my number 1 commenter, made me realize this. Since winter is officially over it is time to do a Winter 08/09 Running Highlights write-up. The good (and some funny) things...

Highest mileage week: 159
Most consecutive long run days (15+): 7 (with 7-8 mile PM runs)
Coldest long run: -22 air temp, -35 windchill
Fastest 10 miler: 57:30 (middle 7 miles @ 5:18-24)
Slowest 10 miler: 1:50 (dang straight. all running, no walking)
Days off: 2 (the first was because I was on a train all day, the second because I hurt)
Treadmill 10k: 35 flat a couple of hours after a 13 mile tempo run.
Mild frost-bite incidences: 2

I am thankful for the above experiences. I am thankful that joy is possible. There was a moment that I had, a couple of years ago, that I will never forget. I was descending Waldo Canyon trail at a really solid trail pace, the creek to my left, and the trail passage narrowing. I remember feeling so fluid, so natural, so real and a part of that natural setting that for a moment I was plucked out of my body and taken to the heavens, where running is effortless and the most edifying activity available. Anyways, after that run, I remember thinking to myself that if that were the last run I were ever able to do, I would be so thankful that I had had the transcendent experience and work at applying the glory to other endeavors.

It is time to take that lesson to heart again as I let my body rest. There is no need to fear, worry or be anxious. Thanks must be given for what has been and what is - that is, good. Rather than being disparaged by this change, I am encouraged to engage with those things in my life that I have so blazenly neglected during my times of intense focus on training. Of course, it is always easier said than done. But it starts first with the thinking and the saying. Then, made manifest through action, thoughts, ideas and words become the reality of the day. Inception/perception meet reality. Change occurs.