Out of the fog

The car door slammed shut and the woman walked easily over to the light pole, which she used as support to gently stretch her quadriceps. The man joined her and they discussed which direction they should go and wondered if they would need an extra layer. The early morning air temperature felt sharply brisk and a dense fog hung in the air waiting for the sun’s heat to burn it off.

They started with a brief walk and then fell into a gentle side-by-side jog. The narrow running path consisted of small gravel layered over packed dirt bordered by unkempt grass and weeds. The woman bounced along next to the man and they settled on what pace they would run today.

Into the fog they ran and as they approached the lake the woman noticed how the moisture in the cool air thickened and clung to her cheeks. They noticed several snowy white objects floating on the calm water. As they grew closer she could hear honking noises and realized the objects were swans floating in and out of the mist.

They jogged steadily through the trees, around the corner and over the wooden plank bridge that covered the marshy area. Their raggedy jog smoothed out and they found a comfortable rhythm. His breath puffed when he spoke a few words trying to initiate a conversation. Normally talkative, she answered briefly and withdrew contentedly back into her own mind.

The woman concentrated on her breath as she listened to the sounds of their synchronized footfalls. Her mind roamed through her body assessing how different body parts were feeling. Her legs felt springy and she experimented with increasing her stride length and leg turnover but not so much as to compromise her relaxed breathing patterns. They mostly ran silently yet keenly aware of the other. Their elbows bumped, he apologized, and they re-negotiated their space on the narrow trail. As her muscles warmed she increased the pace slightly. He fell behind but then surged to return to her side.

She could hear his steady breathing and it became her breathing. They ran as one unit sharing space, sharing breaths, sharing thoughts. Her heart pumped strongly and the blood flowed from her, circulated into him, and then returned to her. She felt great gratitude. In her mind she told him things she’d always meant to say but hadn’t gotten around to actually saying. Yet somehow she knew that on that day in the foggy mist, he understood what was in her mind and her heart because they ran as one.

Training Begins

I feel incredibly energized partly because I have a new goal: The PF Chang RockNRoll half marathon.

I'm excited about this trip as I'll be splitting my time between Phoenix and Vegas. However, I am worried about pushing so hard after recovering from an injury so I will keep my goals modest: avoid injury, enjoy the course and have a fun trip. If all goes well, I will be in excellent condition for the Virginia Beach Shamrock HM in March. I might even consider doing the full.

Now I need to develop a training plan that will get me from injury to half marathon condition in about 10 weeks. So much to do, so little time.