Hopper
The Dead Chicken
Strolling
I am training for a 50K trail race which takes place 46 days from now. Today my training consisted of walking a baby in a stroller. Some days that’s all my busy schedule will allow.
I find myself falling into this rut of not doing any exercise on the days in between my running days. I know I should do a sit up once in a while or lift a weight or two. When feeling harried, as I often do, working out for 15 minutes, or doing a set of push ups a few times a day, seems insufficient. But then I do nothing at all to improve my fitness on those days. Talk about insufficient!
Today I thought, Why not go over to the park and walk for 30 minutes? So I threw the baby in the trunk and the stroller in his seat. Er… I went over to the park and walked around the lake three times for a little over three miles. That was way better than not doing anything just because I felt so taxed by the day.
I have a lot of work to do to get ready for the 50K. That’s 31 miles. Three miles of pushing a stroller might not be sufficient preparation for such a long race. But an hour of walking is more helpful than an hour of sitting on the couch fretting.
My P to R Ratio
Pines and Maples
There are pine and maple trees outside my son’s home.
Listen to that sound.
It reminds me of the surf at the beach. After the waves break and the incoming water reaches as far onto the beach as it can. There’s a moment of near silence right then. The water retreats. You hear the sound of the foam bubbles popping, air bubbles releasing from the sand, water sinking into the sand. It’s similar to the sound of the wind in the pines.
It also reminds me of being at my Grandparents’ house when I was a kid. They had a row of very tall pines beyond the patio along the driveway. There were no sounds of traffic or neighbors where they lived on top of a mountain. I remember the sound of the wind in the pines there. I also remember climbing to the top of one of those pines and coming out covered with ticks. But the view of the adjacent mountains was fantastic.
I wish I had time to set out a chair and let the sound of the wind in the pines soothe me right now, especially on such a lovely day. But since I don’t, I’ll take a video to watch over and over later.
Join me.