I still feel that I am 'coming back' from my injury and have that at the top of my mind every time I run now. With that in mind I decided that I was going to stick to my plan and just run 10 miles last Sunday and not a half-marathon as I was tempted to do. I was able to join Dan Pf. at the Y Run Club's (of which I'm a dues-paying member) 50k/Marathon/Half-Marathon. He was going to hit the official start time of 7am, but since I only needed those 10 miles, I slept in a bit before heading to the park. I got there and ran a little, one-mile loop with Rick before joining Dan in his 3-mile loops. I told Dan I still planned on going slow and taking it easy - my goal being to increase my distance, not my pace - and he said that'd work perfect with what his goals were for the day; he was taking it easy and walking the hills. Perfect. Really. It was wonderful running slowly and walking the hills; laughing out loud when Dan pointed out the Campus Center Ctr. Building in the middle of the community college we were running; and then checking out the Douglas Fir straddling the decaying cedar stump. We talked about the name choices for the baby he and his wife are expecting, and then diverged on to the names of his daughters and my sons and how and why those were chosen. The run was about 3/4 shaded but the 1/4 that wasn't made it feel like a spring day. Before we knew it, our miles were completed and it was time to stop. Perfect.
On Monday, the teacher who usually runs with me on Tuesdays texted to see if I wanted to switch to Monday this week. No problem (despite the fact that Monday is usually my no-run day) - the weather forecast was calling for 60's and sunny for Monday, and much cooler and rainy on Tuesday. That was an easy switch to make. I would be working at a nearby school so I packed my running gear and went to work. After work we ran in the sun on our usual route - the one we haven't run since my injury. It felt good to be back in the swing of things and we both noticed that we picked up the pace considerably in the last mile - but neither of us mentioned it until the run was over. It just felt too perfect.
Tuesday brought the predicted rain and grey skies. Those are always the toughest days for me. None-the-less, when the phone rang after work and it was my neighborhood running partner checking to see what time I could come out, I said without hesitation, "give me 15 minutes". I was changed and out the door without stopping to think about sitting down and snuggling with a book. We ran our usual Flat-4 route and kept our chatter up-beat. It was a perfect rainy-day run!
I had an 8-mile run written on my planning log for Wednesday. My neighborhood partner went 6 with me and I just continued on and did the last two on my own. Without trying, I increased the pace by 30 seconds per mile, and finished feeling like I used to when I ran. Like I did just months ago. Hey, maybe things are falling into place. Felt perfect!
I usually run with the group on Thursdays. OK, usually I run with my neighborhood running partner - and then with my group later in the evening. I decided that it was time to take a break however, especially since I had run 5 days in a row and was supposed to be honoring my two days off a week. Instead of running with the group, I went to the track and threw the ball for Juno, then Rick walked with us around the track several times. That too felt perfect.
Friday I ended up cleaning the house and doing some things for my sons. I was going to try to run a few miles but then decided that since it was my usual day off, and I was running short on time anyway, I'd just go with it and not run two days in a row. Felt like cheating!
That brings me to today. I had posted earlier in the week that I was looking for someone to run 12 miles with me and Ray responded. He wanted to run the Orting Trail and while that would mean that I'd miss coffee with the group, I was looking forward to the trail. I really love that trail. It's an old railroad bed so there are no hills to speak of on it. It has a very gentle, uphill grade going East out of town (which is the way we go to start) - which of course means that once you turn, you get to enjoy a gentle, downhill grade for the return. The path is rural and goes past several farms, through many wooded areas, and along the river. Like I said, I love it. We decided to start at 8am (I like to start when it's light out) and it was already sunny but the mist was rising all around us creating a dream-like setting. There is a farm with cattle in the field in the first mile and I looked at one of the cows and noticed she was about to give birth. I pointed this out to Ray and said we'd have to be sure to check for the newborn on our return. We continued on at a comfortable pace, chatting easily as we went. The buffalo and emu were out as usual at mile two, and the river was rushing by beyond that. The sun was glistening through the trees and it was fun checking out the different varieties of mosses covering the trees as we ran by; and listening to the birds singing as if it were already spring. I pointed out common mergansers, bald pates, and a kestral to Ray. Nice birds to see. In what seemed like no time at all we hit the 6-mile point and turned. It's hard not to smile when you turn on that trail. All of a sudden you realize that you've been running uphill, and it makes you feel full of new-found energy. The miles clicked by and we neared the original cattle pasture. Sure enough, there was the newborn bull calf, licked clean, a light, reddish brown, standing at his mother's side, both of them looking right at us as if to say, " hello, what a beautiful day". And it was a beautiful, magical, newborn-feeling day!
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