I had a great run today and Wednesday. In contrast, this Sunday was one of my worst runs
ever. Right from the beginning my lower
legs were feeling aches all over and completely drained of all energy. They
simply came to a halt about half way through the planned 12 miles. I decided
not to push too hard, and walked back home. The legs had no complaints at all
on the walk back and back home… they were happy like a cranky little child who got
the candy he was crying for. As if to compensate for that lousy day the runs
were excellent Wednesday and today.
Although they were shorter at the usual 10k on weekdays, I haven’t felt
this good after a run in a long time. The
pace was very good, heart pumping at a good rate and the body working at very
good speed. Wednesday was slightly faster through most of the course and the
beat and rhythm kept playing in the back of my mind for the rest of the
day! Today was a more even pace with an
almost exact time but was feeling different – I don’t have the beat playing in
the background, but the body is feeling just great. Perhaps you hit that goldilocks
zone once in a while; or perhaps some of the exercises and the extra stretches that
I’ve added recently working their magic – I sure hope so.
A highlight of some of my runs are animal sightings. Seeing
an animal on a run just cheers you up even if it is just standing at a distance
and watching. The fact that an animal is standing and watching, even casually,
means it is connecting with you at some level or in some sense. Occasionally, I
have seen a deer calf or a bunny rabbit jumping and running when they see me
running. Mostly they run away, but there have been times when a calf or a bunny
have run with me, actually a little ahead of me at a slight distance, in seemingly
playful fashion for a little while.
However, today’s encounter was a bit different. After
my two mile mark coming downhill on a slight bend a large bear just popped out
from the woods the other side of the road about 15-20 feet ahead of me, he
looked in my direction, probably already looked in the opposite direction,
found there is no traffic and trotted across the road. He was around twice to
two and half times my size across and definitely much longer or taller. His stature should look pretty imposing if
standing erect. He/she showed excellent
judgment of my speed while crossing the road and looked convinced that a
collision was not possible – as I mentioned before, I was running at a good
clip today. I didn’t slow down either
seeing that he wasn’t planning on stopping. I thought his face conveyed a sort
of awareness of his surroundings including me. He looked beautiful – very
chubby and healthy – and didn’t look threatening, nor threatened. The driver of a utility van that came by gave a
surprised look at me and in the direction of the bear which must’ve been quickly
vanishing in the tall grass.
Have fun folks.
If I can run, u can run
No comments:
Post a Comment