Step by step

Proof: photo from 30K

6AM, and the Ft. Lauderdale training group is ready to roll. I've taken 2 days off to rest the 'protesters', the body parts that have been aggravated, and to allow my energy to come back. I'm noticing that the more persistent I am, meaning days in a row, the more fatigued I'm becoming....at 40 mpw, I can afford more rest! And it paid off today. Heading up Bayview in the dark, I felt light and in rhythm. At the beach, heading back south, the sun had begun to peek between swathes of grey clouds, shimmering pink and coral colors onto the white caps washing into shore. I took the straight stretch down Sunrise to Las Olas in one big gulp...using the bike path when possible to focus on my gait, and not the sidewalks. Coach finds me on Las Olas and provides fluids, and when I pick it back up, I realize the boat show has brought in heavy traffic on the docks. There are boats everywhere! Luxury, little, impressive in their careful order. I round north through Victoria Park for another stretch straight on enjoying the lovely atmosphere of older homes and the verdent green of the parks hugging the water to my right. Everything seems especially light and irridescent, fragile and shimmering slightly in the early dawn. The park transforms to houses and before I know it, I make a final kick to Sunrise, and the store.

Although I had the ipod today and practiced my pace, I thought, as well, about the gains and goals I'm achieving, when everything about the world seems conspiring to knock us all off balance. The benefits of 'core-training', that attention to the body's mid-section, in providing stability during the run is not lost on me....I have gotten to the core of things within myself, I have found strength and fortitude I never thought I could rely on to carry me through....every mile, each step is an achievement. And whether they come easy, or with extra effort and concerns, the basic rhythms are all there now. All I need to do is relax and go with the ride.