Master of One

If I hadn't become a runner I might not have the opportunity to take pictures like this one. Today marked the end of my heavy training for the Philly Marathon in three weeks. I ran 20 miles this morning and on my second trip through the Navy Yard, around mile 9 I stopped for 30 seconds to take this and stretch my hamstrings.

It is fully fall here in Philly, the temperature not getting above 45 degrees this morning, but the sun was out and the Delaware River was calm and peaceful. This shot has been edited with Google tools and I like the way it pulls out the few puffy clouds. Over the course of three hours the sky went from completely cloudless to only slightly cloudy, though the breeze did come up a bit to make the inward leg a bit harder than the outward. All in all, though, it was another beautiful day to be out, though I'd like to take a second to say, "Fuck! I ran for three hours and ten minutes straight!"

I learned a couple of things about distance running today. First, my body is ready for the marathon. Yes, my quads asked me to stay away from stairs for a few hours afterwards, but they'll be fine tomorrow. Second, I need to find something to eat in addition to my energy pudding before heading out. It's fine through about two hours, but I was getting hungry, so I guess I was starting to burn fat. Not that that's a bad thing, in conjunction with GU at regular intervals, but it was distracting me. Lastly, I have to focus on keeping my mind occupied. I don't know that I was bored, exactly, but after two and a half hours I needed some sort of stimulation besides singing the same song over again. Yes, Indestructible is a great song, and fittingly appropriate for me right now, but let's move on to something else, shall we?

I have to think that I will be happily stimulated on race day by being surrounded by other runners, by being in an actual race, by accomplishing what I set out to do way back in June. I continue to smile at those moments when I picture the end of the race and that sense of triumph I will feel. Hell, I've already planned my next tattoo will be the race logo (trademark infringement!). I'm even planning to improve for my next race. It's interesting to me that, while I often profess and try to live by a creed of laissez-faire, I don't settle for "just good enough" in my running. I want to excel once I've made this first marker.

Here's the wishful thinking moment. I wish that I could hire a trainer and do nothing but run better, wherever and whenever I want, and when I'm not running I'm practicing philanthropy. That would be a perfect world.

Fitter/Happier

This may not look like much but my feet are in heaven. Superfeet have gone and replaced the original hard plastic sole of their inserts with carbon fiber. There are a number of benefits, not the least of which is comfort - the shape naturally conforms to the heel and sole of my foot.

I'm also expecting that the curved rear edges (as opposed to the straight, raised edge in the previous design) will deliver a more relaxed rotational transition from my outside heel strike to toe-off, and hopefully eliminate the nagging ache in my ankle. There is also a sense of completeness, or "oneness" to this design - while there are two distinctly different materials they seem to be molded together, not glued together, even though they are.

They will get their first tryout tomorrow on a 16-mile run. Followed by a full day at work. Followed by a heavy night's sleep, no doubt. This is an update post, and probably the most significant item is that I am recovering from my long runs quickly. The actual runs have their moments of struggle, but by the next morning I am without any physical repercussions. I find this rather remarkable at my age. I figure that between drugs, alcohol and cigarettes I've taken ten years off my life expectancy, but this running thing and its attendant weight training and healthier diet may reverse some of that. I feel better now than at any point in my life. There's a bounce in my step most of the time, I smile readily, I want to go run nearly every day, and I want to share this with everyone.

It's hard to believe that back in June I was so excited by running five miles and now that's a throwaway distance. That's crazy. Seriously. Five miles means going out and running for 45-50 minutes. That's not an insignificant amount of time. Just let me go change! Ha ha, what a gas! 67 sessions, 60 hours, 375 miles. Bring it. I'm ready.

Marc Parent @newbiechronicle wrote in Runners World last month on realizing that you're probably a runner if....You lay in bed at night and say My God, I just ran ___ miles and you used to say My God, I just ate ___ Oreos. And...Sore muscles make regular people cranky. Sore muscles make runners' eyes spin in their heads and say "Alive, man. Alive!" That is so me now. Hey! Wanna see the blood blister on my toe?!

10/25 - Update. They really did make my ankle pain go away. Fabulous new design.

Riven

She peers. It's beyond just looking. You can tell that she sees something you don't. Did you pass it by and not notice, or did it appear after you were there? Either way, she sees it and you didn't, so you're curious, timid even. You go back and silently try to discern what has caught her attention. To no avail. Without a word she turns and walks by.

It scorches when turned your way, that look, for there is something that you've hidden or forgotten or ignored. But she can see it. Your response is visceral. It pummels and churns its way further inside and ultimately leaves you bereft, for you did not or cannot see what she did.

Yet you are oddly enamored of that penetrating, searching, yearning look. It speaks to you of a desire to fully understand where we fit, how we join our simplest nature to the rest of the world. It eschews both falsity and convention, delving ever deeper into the very essence of the thing, without preconceived notion, until it elicits the truth. That truth is what you fear and that look can strip you of all that you believe, all that you trust, all that you think you know. The cliff's edge she has brought you to delineates your here and now and what you might be. Softly, softly. Draw close. Release is your desire.