Sunday runs

I've decided I love Sunday mornings. Something about them just gives you the space to do what you need to do. Even though I usually end up working on Sundays, the morning always seem leisurely and pleasurable and running on Sunday mornings seems to work out especially well. This morning I managed an easy 7.5 even though I haven't gone that distance in at least a month. But something was working this morning. Weird since I didn't have any real dinner to speak of the night before and didn't go to bed particularly early or wake up particularly late. Maybe it was the yoga stretches I did after getting out of bed (a couple quick sun salutations and some cat/dog stretches) or the small oatmeal with honey, or the two cups of coffee (that probably helped), or the half hour of meditation. None of those (except the yoga) are particularly unusal though. Who knows? It's a continuing mystery. But I was feeling no pain or tiredness this morning as I ran along the harbour then through the 'hood to add some extra kms. The weather was perfect - that early fall coolness with an overcast sky and a slight wind. The city was quiet still. I stopped to watch a hummingbird take in the city's hanging flowers and, as I promised my sister, stopped to smell the wild roses along the harbour path. So my pace was a bit slower than usual I guess, but still, I was weirdly un-tired and only stopped at 7.5 because the lesson of July still hangs over me and I was clearly doing more than 10% over the week before. In any case, it was all good. Maybe it was the yoga stretches - although I know there's a debate over pre run stretching. (But at least my down-dogs are improving. )

Back at it - more slowly

Okay, so it's been a while since that last update. I haven't stopped running, I just had a bit of a slow down. As soon as I hit that 110+km mark I got knocked over by a nasty summer cold and I took a while to rebuild. But I learned something. Apparently if you increase your running distance you quickly you can drain your bodies resources and defences and become prone to getting sick. So there you go. Lesson learned. Nonetheless I did get back at it within a couple of weeks and have now got over 250km under my belt, I just limited myself to the 5 or 6 km mark in one run rather than aiming for 8 or 10. The thing is, it's weird how now 5 or 6km still feels like quite an effort and on some days I can't even get that far. But I'm told that's the mystery of running. Some days you can go for miles and other days the old body just doesn't want to go there. And it's next to impossible to figure out what factors into it: sleep? stress? what you ate? Dunno. But a small bowl of oatmeal and honey now seems to be my best friend before a run. And it does seem to matter if I'm running "in nature" or in the city, but unfortunately my access to nature has been severely limited in the past few weeks. However running in the city has it's perks. I've been able to cheer on strikers, say hi to the old folks walking the Cranberry Path, re-direct lost teenagers, chat with posties about how far I run and how far they walk, and generally find out what's up in town. So despite the concrete and what it may be doing to my knees, the city running really isn't so bad, I just miss the park. And with fall upon us and winter soon to come I'd better take advantage of the park while I have the chance, so let's hope October brings new opportunties for some running through the leaves....