Again, for no good reason....except for good fuel and a weekend rest (as opposed to fretting about work)... I take the Griffin loop over from 56th and up SW 40th, a road I have not been on in some time....
The crisp light of early morning cradles my eyes as they adjust to the rhythm of footfalls, until I get my gait and begin to ease into the atmosphere. Over Emerald Hills I just focus on keeping everything on a smooth move....nothing was terribly sore, no hitches, so the shift of gears from slow shuffle to respectable pace (for me now) happened effortlessly. Instead of constant walk breaks, I seemed to have the pace right to go and go....on up to Griffin, enjoying the peace and quiet of lovely open roads with hardly a car out: Sunday mornings are the ideal day for the long run!
Griffin to my Publix pit stop. I was over-heated but feeling triumphant. I would like to push it to Angler, but something in me said, don't take the risk just yet...a good thing can turn south and any one of those vulnerable places lock me out of making it back in one piece. So instead I took my time and ran the branch back to Park, keeping up a nice little gait to Tom Petty all the way down to Stirling. I am in the habit now of walking the last mile, a 'homage' to an article I read about a NYC runner who figured out if he walked his last mile home, made it back in good shape, allowing his legs to recover. Walking does just that; while still on a brisk move, it feels as if all the connective tissue can stretch back out, while muscles remain active...plus I work on swinging out my tense shoulders, neck and arms...
The JOY of running comes unexpected...and usually under pressure from set-backs, challenges and obstacles along the way. In the photo, from MCM, this was mile 18-19 before I saw a familiar face; my 'team' waiting for me along the DC mall...Michael, Yu, CeeCee and Vitae- triumphant for me, spiriting me on with hugs, shouts, kisses and love....
There are times when I feel I hold the vision of everyone I love like a flower in my hands...while the fragrance of such solidarity generates the wind at my back each time I go it alone.
2 comments:
Look, I understand you need to filter every feedback you get through your spirituality and all. But I am not a Buddhist; I am an ordinary Joe who grow up from 1957 to 1977 in South Florida. I love to run; my 84-year old father lives in West Hollywood and is almost blind, desperately clinging to a fading dream of an independent existence after my mother painfully died of lung cancer in 2002. I visited him a couple of weeks ago and ran around the Broward College/Nova educational complex in Davie. I would love to share my experience with you and I sympathize with your approach but I feel that through your vocabulary you have erected a wall between yourself and me,disabling me from communicating with you on any substantial level. So why even bother to blog?
I know I have many readers who enjoy the writing style I employ: it would help me to know why you feel there is a wall for you..how you experience this? If the blog turns you off, why do you read it?
For the record, I am not a buddhist; I have a "right brain" spiritual orientation, maybe "mystical" is my closest corollary, in that I have a life-long relationship with metaphysical experiences- including running, as the means to touch something beyond ordinary life.
Any time you feel you'd like to explore this further, I am certainly open!
RBR
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