Yes, Shelley, it is fall. The leaves are turning all shades of color. My shadow stretches long on the grass. Look here: this tree has this section turning brilliant, red, orange, etc. the rest of it and the surrounding trees are still vibrant green holding on, refusing to give in, for now. It is inevitable. The color will chase the green away. The leaves will fall. The naked trees will be left to make their valiant effort to hold up the sky and clouds.
I am running the Jordan Road loop, 4.5 miles round trip, good flat stretches on Chestnut and 140, and an up hill finish along King Street. Almost all my routes end uphill due to where the house is located, can’t avoid that. There is a really nice rolling section along Jordan Road itself. It inclines initially on the first turn off Chestnut Street, bends down then works up to where the two mile mark is located by the old well, and then the road gradually declines down to the end of Jordan at Route 140. Having reached the peak of the run at this point, if you need to dip down for something else, it could not be more conveniently placed to have the well right then. It does not look like it really works for water (although it did sometime ago), but the thought is what counts for the run.
I wish I new the names of more things in nature. I remember a nature walk with a naturalist along an abandon rail road bed in the Pocono’s. The girls were younger then and intensely interested in each and every thing along the trail. It took a long time to walk because there were questions and more questions. Fortunately, and this is why I recall it so well even today, the naturalist had most if not all the answers. She told us the name of this plant. She told us about the sassafras tree, the one with three different leaves. She told us about the mint family where the leaves grow opposing each other.
I won’t be racing at the Mayor’s Cup. Yes, I asked for your help to keep me honest. It came down to me though. I did not run as much as I needed to while away at the Dodge Festival. I have had trouble getting up consistently for the Tue/Thu AM runs. There is no one to blame but me. It is not blame actually, just reality. I thought I had a goal. The goal was just not providing the spark to get me going. I am making good progress on the road back to running regularly but won’t be able to compete for what I wanted to. It will be just as good to keep running and pick a new goal.
I got too much on the mind. Want to do more book reviews. Want to write more. Want to read more. Want to run more. Too many wants! Not enough time. Need to focus, need to prioritize. I probably should take my own advice. I posted to Tom Peter’s blog the other day that he should attempt to prioritize his many causes according to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. It sounds like a good idea. (If anyone needs a refresher on this, you can check out http://web.utk.edu/~gwynne/maslow.HTM) I’ll think about that and come back to post the results later.
I am running better than earlier this year. The log shows a gradual increase in mileage; this despite the variations in the number of days run per week. Not really a good comparison considering the layoffs due to the minor injuries. First, the twisted knee when cross country skiing with the girls. The down hill was too steep and too curvy. I tried going down to avoid a fall and heard/felt the twist as I went down. I shook it off and continued but the next day I could hardly walk. Three weeks later, I started tentatively, cautiously to run again. It felt good to run. I like the power of running. The satisfaction of covering territory, miles under foot. At my pace. The sweat during, and after. Six weeks later, after what I thought and felt was a good workout on the high school track, my heel complained. It was hard moving in the morning. It made walking something to think about instead of just doing. No longer, just the mad dash across the street to beat the light or traffic. No longer in control of my own destiny. Now, slower to move. Stretch carefully when getting up. Is this what it means to get old? Is this going to happen more frequently? The fear of it. The reality of age. I may not be growing up but I am growing older. Everyday.
Three months off this time. I did not want to rush it back. The “fear thing” nags. When I come back I want to keep going. I want to be well again. So it is already three months into the comeback. Still building up. Still taking it easy. Still fearful. Yet, realizing that time is not waiting. I need to take advantage of the day as it is presented to me. So as I run this morning, letting the thoughts go where they will, I committed to writing them down when I return. Hence, this somewhat random train of thought. Highways will take you anywhere you want to go. If you do not know where you want to go, you will end up anywhere. A short cut will only take you one place. What is the short cut I am looking for? Do you have a short cut?
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