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| Dothan, AL |
But, all things considered—considered things being the icing over of trails, final exams, the yearly Christmas migration to Georgia-Tennessee-Alabama, the start of a new semester of study, and a few sub-zero days hither and thither—maybe it's best for running to be forgettable at times.
A daily tension for the runner prone to wander is one of balance. Basically: it takes quite some time to run quite some distance. And the hours in a day seem pretty stable at two-dozen.
Now, before tensing up, we should hurry ourselves to admit that this time-consuming reality carries with it a certain time-suspending quality that is one of the joys of and draws to distance running.
(Though the physical experiences are not comparable, I think mentally the experience of distance running is sorta like the experience of sitting on the ocean's edge on a clear, warm, breezy summer day (with drink in hand, SPF +75 appropriately applied, etc). What happens to time as you gaze out towards the infinite blue? Somehow, time slows down and time speeds up. Before you know it, while your mind has completed several laps around the equator, your stomach has missed out on lunch. Such time-bending activities are a high joy in this life. And so it is (at times) with distance running—time to think, time to process, time to sing, time to pray, time to explore those crevices of the soul that tend to be hopped over during the quickness of the days.)
If (running + family + friends + study + job + reading + eating + sleeping + the like > 24 hrs) ⇒ tension.
This isn't too complicated. It just comes down to priorities, mostly. But since I haven't quite figured out how to actually suspend time, sometimes a little running forgetfulness is best.
The month of March has been good though, a coming out of hibernation if you will. The temperatures are on the rise. The trails are getting dirtier. The world is getting greener. And the days are getting longer. Even the birds seem more talkative.
April is shaping up to be a good beginning to the 2012 running/racing/whatever-you-want-to-call-it season. I have plans to run in the Trail Mix 50k on Saturday, April 21st. I had been waiting to commit until seeing how (forgettable) recent training was going to be, but I mailed in my registration form yesterday. So, I guess that means I'm committed. So, here we go. While I'm certainly not trained for a course record (3:11.28!), I hope to be trained enough to compete for a new personal record (currently 4:21.58, Gator Trail '02).
Other race goals. . .
- meet new people
- have fun with Ashley
- praise God, through Jesus, for such good gifts!
If you are, by faith, "in Christ," ⇒ you have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 1:3) This is certainly happy news, any day of the year!
Mostly for my own record-keeping, but if you're one who likes the numbers. . .
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December numbers:
-Miles: 112.5
-Hours: 18h 48min
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January numbers:
-Miles: 82.5
-Bridges: 20
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February numbers:
-Miles: 43.0
-Bridges: 7
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March numbers:
-Miles: 207.5
-Hours: 33h 24min
-Bridges: 64
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2012 numbers:
-Miles: 333
-Hours: 72h 23min
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And, finally, some musical joy...
2 comments:
Great summary! Bet the SweetH2O is hillier!
You're probably right. I guess the word "hilly" is somewhat relative to the surrounding landscape.
I tried to see if I could find the UR write-up on the Trail Mix 50k last year to compare with the H2O, but didn't see it in any of the issues. I'll see if I can find some numbers on the elevation change before the race. Altitude certainly won't be a factor though :)
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