Peace

Is a dirty word; it used to be a painted bird, baby.

No, peace is a wonderful thing. Peace is what I found yesterday. While running, of all things. Cranked out a good 3.5 miles over lunch. Didn’t feel sore. Didn’t feel winded. Didn’t feel nothing but peace.

Saw the folks walking to the galley. I ran.

Saw the cars driving by, windows sealed against the pending rain and fall chill. I ran.

Saw the trees, holding on to green leaves thanks to unseasonable warmth and rain. I ran.

Saw great V’s of geese headed south breaking through the bellies of clouds fat with rain. I ran.

Nothing fancy today. No sprints. No great distance. Nothing but redjazz.com’s podcast.

Taper madness – none of that here. I’m loving the taper.

I’ve been slacking, though. My ankle is still “Twingey” and I don’t want it to go all the way to “painful” before the race. So, likely I’m babying it a bit too much. Then there’s the fear of a cold, coupled with a week of grey and rain. But such is life.

The upside is that I’m reconnecting with Running again, after our little lover’s spat a couple of weeks ago. I’m really excited about reasonable runs – For whatever reason, I’m finding that 5 miles is a beautiful distance. 3 miles is a good daytime distance. Can’t wait to reconnect with Swimming and Cycling, without Running being the 800 lb gorilla in the room.

5 miles Saturday and Sunday, couple of 4 milers next week, and marathon on Sunday. I cannot wait. I’m completely pumped for the race – the good short runs I’ve had lately (even the rainy run last weekend) have me wanting to bite off a ginormous chunk of marathon, chew it up, swallow it, and have it become a little bit of who I am. But they’ve got me even more excited about getting back to a balanced diet of exercise, and a more balanced life. I can see the end – it’s 8 wake-ups and 26.2 miles away (OK, 38.2 miles away assuming 5 Sat/Sun, and 4’s Tues/Wed/Thu), and I’m psyched.