Patience; the new endurance sport.

 I met Catherine at the mouth of the canyon at the indulgent hour of 8:00 a.m. I think I've gained all of the weight that she has lost since she started running more miles.  That never happens to me.  I never lose weight,  I just gain it when I slow down or stop running.....It was a gorgeous windless morning.  All the trees are yellow, gold, and red.  It was 100% warmer than even some of those early morning spring and summer runs.  It was just so cold last year.  But the mellow warmth and beautiful light was insipiring.  I stopped at 2 to stretch and taught Catherine about my new stretching regime and taught her a few knee/tendon tricks.  Since I got back, I've been clipping roses and cleaning up the yard with my kids this afternoon.  My my hip/hamstring is just bothing me a little.  I tried to keep it slow, but we did 9:30's the same as always.  I hope my body won't punish me tommorrow for my run today.  I keep thinking I should be rewarded for being so cautious and proactive in healing myself. Mabye I really would have torn that tendon right off my ischial tuberosity/piriformis had I kept going, who knows. I just wish I was rewarded with a little faster recovery as a reward for my good judgement.  I feel like the lessons on patience keep coming back again and again in every aspect of my life.  I guess it won't go away until I'm finally beaten down. So why do I keep fighting it? 

And when I woke up with the realization I had an extra hour, I looked outside to find the pavement black with fresh rain.  I threw on my shoes and windbreaker and headed outside. The air is fresh and clean smelling with that hint of wet soil.  The trail, the river, the sky are all yellow fallen and falling yellow leaves.  The clouds hung on to the mountain tops like cotton candy clings to your fingers.  The fallen leaves lined the trail making a thick yellow brick road.  Beneath the trees, and above my head, a never ending stream of fat, yellow confetti twirls and falls to the ground.  A thick yellow carpet beneath my feet muffles the sound of my shuffling footsteps. The dogs are jubilent and can not be contained.  The river eddies are clogged with floating yellow leaves that remind me of one of my favorite MC Escher paintings (Three Worlds).  My mind is filled with the words of  one of my favorite Shakespearan Sonnets (73)

That time of year thou mayst in me behold

When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang... That on the ashes of his youth doth lie, Consumed with that which it was nourish'd by.

I have been outside twice a day every day for a week trying to take my fill of this season before the yellow leafy carpet is ground by our feet into the pavement into tiny flecks gold dust soon to be covered by a block of solid  ice. I have a few mental visions in the library already tucked away for later reference. I feel like a starving woman trying to gorge myself at a feast. Deseprate to fill my senses with the warm yellow sensation of these days to last me the grey and white winter to come. 

10 on the stationary bike and then 2 slogging/20 minutes stretching.  The frost is frosty this morning-- but how much do we LUV daylight savings?  I'm thrilled it's no longer PITCH black in the a.m.  Wasn't this weekend breathtaking?  It may take a while for me to get over all my tender poetic feelings about the glorious weekend weather.... Good news! I may have found a new weekday a.m. running partner.  With the weathe turning, I just really miss Amanda.  She was so consistant.  Funny thing is, Amanda was a libriarian and this new girl I may be running with soon is also a librarian...And, I was once a librarian for 3 years.  What's with all the running librarians? 

My hip and hamstring are sore.  I have not had 2 1/2 spare hours during the day for physical therapy since last Wednesday.  I think I've been good about the stretching and the cross training.  PT has been amazing, but they don't offer their services at 4:30 a.m. when I actually have time to be there.  I think healing injuries is more a matter of time and consistency more than anything else. It took 6 weeks to make that vastus medialis /adductor strain settle down.  It took 6 weeks for plantar fasciitis to heal (that and cortisone shots).  I had tendonitis in my elbow last year that took 6 months to go away. My guess is the hip thing is not going to get better faster just because I want it to get better faster.....Today was so November Rain. The leaves are already being crushed onto the trail, but it is still so lovely.  The real treat of this autumn has been the rain.  As I was finishing up (what I'd loosely refer to 'my run') I bumped into into Linda on the trail who just turned 59.  15-20 years ago she was a hard core runner, ran Boston, and a million other marathons and races.  At 59 is still doing her thing -- slowly and carefully-- but she's still at it.  Her age is to mine, what mine is to Catherine's. I may take her up on an a.m. M/W/F thing while I'm healing-- and while I'm recruiting the librarian for winter.

Who knew that after yesterday's balmy autumn morning, that we would awake to the season's first snowfall? Bring it on! That way I can count skiing as my cross training.  In the meantime, I slowly ran my 'special' 2 miles and then biked 16 on the stationary.  You really can sweat up a storm on the stationary bike. I guess its because sweat has no where to go when you're sitting still?  So even if it's not the same kind of work out, at least I'm pretty soaked when I'm through.  That feels good, though not as good as running.

I ran 4 semi-legitimate miles (9:30's).  I focused on upper body torque and knee shock absorption-- well that and not slipping and falling on the lovely fallen yellow leaves that were slick with frost.  It was tricky.  I may be a little sore tommorrow, we'll see. While I ran, I thought of MichelleL taking on and off her gloves during her run on Monday.  The solution is not to take the gloves all the way off (once 'warm' just roll the wrist cuff up to the middle of your hand exposing the palm and back of hand to the air, but keeping you fingers covered).  It sure beats taking off  (and trying to carry them) and then putting them back on again while trying to run. Winter running is a little tricky.  You have to maintain body heat without overheating.  It takes a lot of zippers in strategic locations (at the neck/or down the torso) and good techinical materials...don't skimp on quality tech gear.  That is what I've found out over the years.  Good material will keep you outside in winter sweating up a storm but not soaking wet at the core in sub-temps. I love winter running.  Not my best performance running, it's so hard to catch a deep breath and get the muscles warmed up.  But it is so serene and exhilarating-- especially on those fresh snow mornings.  Isn't change wonderful?

I rode the stationary bike on friday until I was a sweaty mess (about an hour).  I was busy watching Alias.  I never watch  tv so that was a treat. Saturday I ran with Cath and her sister in law up the Canyon.  The sister in law (who just had a baby 9 weeks ago) ran pretty well, but needed to slow down a bit.  So Catherine and I ran at a pretty good clip without stopping for a few miles. Only a little pain in the hip after a tiny pit stop as I was trying to catch back up to Catherine.  One week without Physical Therapy, but I'm still spending 15 mintues both morning and night (30 minutes total) doing the stretching.  Overall, my back, hip, and hamstring are coming along.  Today was lovely and windless up the canyon.  I love these cold, cloudless, blue skied November mornings. The leaves have mostly fallen and there is that feeling of lonely desolation.....that time of year thou mayest in me behold.

I took a wonderfully long 5 miles on the trail and pretended I was somewhere else today.

I ran 4 miles on the trail at lunch.  I dare you to try not to slip on all those wet leaves.  It's hard.  Running in the rain is so melancholy. I wish the rain would turn to snow. 

It was frosty this morning.  Stayed inside and ran 4 miles on the treadmill. 

Did a two mile jog on the treadmill and then another 40 on the stationary bike.  The stationary bike is quiet so I can actually hear the tv.  I'm busy catching up on current events, mostly provided by the comedy channel .....does that count as news?

Rode the bike for 30 minutes, had out of town business visitors and had to be in SLC by 7:30.  So I didn't get any time in the treadmill.

Oh the sheer relief of being outside in the chill November sun after being inside most every day this week.  The leaves on the trail are brown now and crusty. I love the smell from crushing them underfoot.  I saw Sasha out with a new running partner (new to me).  You can tell when the run is serious by how much Sasha squints his one eye.  I ran 4 at about a 10:00 minute pace and the last 2 at about a 12:00 trying really  hard to focus on the upper body torque and knees.  I stretched that hamstring twice.  It's still not loose, but at least it doesn't hurt all the time now.  Yesterday and today has been so gorgeous out.  The snow on the tall mountains, and clear blue skies very much impressed my out of town business guests.  I'm always happy if Utah puts on a spectacular landscape for visitors.  I'm starting to freak a little though, that there is hardly and snow in the mountains.  When do we get to ski?  Anyway, we loved being outside this morning  (me and the dogs).  My retreiver silently slipped into the deep water at the end of the trail and swam down the river as I ran along side.   P.S.  What is scarier than two men with big guns and 4 hunting dogs jumping out of the bushes?  Jeez, that was freaky.

What a beautiful fall morning to sneak away and enjoy the melancholy isolation of the rivertrail before anyone is awake.  Sunday mornings are so silent around here. Since I'm not doing so much mileage during the week, I've been enjoying a light Sunday walk/jog in the pre dawn. I have been holding my breath, however, until the snow comes, knowing that skiing offers equal therapy to my psyche as far as being outside is concerned.  I think I am being patient.  I am grateful I can run some now days.  Even if just slowly.  But the thought of skiing is keeping me going.  If it doesn't snow soon, I may have to start spin class at the gym.  I can't go on with these mediocre little work outs.

I have been diligently performing my stretches, and the most painful one (for the hamstring --lateral bicep femoris-- connected to the pirifomis) is starting to feel like a real stretch and not just like scratching or poking a fork down into where the tendon connects at either side.  Yesterday I did 60 minutes on my stationary, and today was able to get outside for another delicious fall run.  I love late fall and winter running most of the fair weather cranky old  people are now off the trail.  Only the tougher skinned more tolerant kind are left. As winter progresses, the trail becomes more and more my own (well, me and a few other die hard fishermen, walkers, runners).  Today, these 5 miles were actually a little difficult.  I was sluggish, tired, and couldn't seem to get my breath.  It's taken 2 months, post marathon, to bring down my body's level of fitness.  I've been so good about not overdoing my hip, but I've got to get some higher intensity, low impact.  I apparantly can't be trusted on my own stationary bike---even with all that sweating, it's not enough cardio-vascular wise. If it would just snow and I could get up the mountain a few times a week, I could spare myself spin class.  But it seems inevitable.  I hate starting my day at the gym breathing the sweat of strangers and chlorine. I  HATE it.  It's the antithesis of outside runing. 

Used lunch time to run up to the mouth of the canyon. The weather was great, I didn't even mind those strong gusts of canyon wind.  I still can't bring myself to do the gym. It's the smell. I may get brave soon, in the meantime it's all easy trail running, lots of stretching, stationary bike and treadmill (and walking, I try to walk everywhere now).  I missed yesterday due to too many nights in a row of insonmia.  The healing of the hip & lack of physically challenging myself on a daily basis has left me way too much energy to worry about and get mad about minutia....usually right before I need to go to sleep. Running has always been a way of taking the edge of my anxiety over real life. So not only am I healing this hip, but I'm having to learn some new coping skills--which so far has just meant that I"m mean to everyone around me.  I had no idea how much space and energy running filled up before now.  It's been an interesting 'injury' to heal.

Ran up the canyon with Catherine.  We chatted about 007 and Alias, and her Mom. I stopped to do a good stretch after 2 miles. I've felt pretty good after every run this week.  I work pretty hard at running the way Steve taught me at physical therapy.  It definitely helps take the pounding out of the right places.  I just need to stretch before,during and three or four times during the day.    These clear, cold, autumn mornings are perfection.  Yeah for Thanksgiving this week!  I love the extra time to take long walks and bike rides, and eat leftovers.  I think I love thanksgiving almost more than anyother holiday because there are no gifts involved and it's all about the food. 

I'm so overcome with how beautiful this autumn has been.  About a week ago I took a camera to the trail and  took about 300 sequential pictures while I walked all the way down the trail and back. So that if I was ever to become really sick, in the hospital (mental or otherwise:) or in some way incapacitated, I  know the thing I'd miss the most is being outside and walking/biking/running. I hope that never happens, but when my Dad couldn't walk anymore and was really sick at the end, all I wanted to do was take him outside and go for a walk together like we did before. I pushed him in the wheelchair down the trail many times before we just couldn't do that anymore.
I wanted to catalogue, in some small way, all those things I love about walking on the trail, being outside, in every season, exposed to every kind of weather. I want to take the same sequence of pictures in every season.  So if I am sick, my kids can can play me back those pictures like a slide show, and pretend I'm there if I can't be.

4 miles on the treadmill watching back to back episodes of Alias.  Catherine loaned me the whole season on DVD.  However, she informed me on Saturday, they go in order. So I had to go back to the beginning.  It thought it was TV and could watch any episode at any given time.  So now I'm all caught up!

The trail was luscious from recent rain and the river ran very deep from melting snow.  The kids slept in (no school) and I got to have my most beloved AM hour to myself.  My hip was sore the whole rest of the day though....I did it a little to fast.

19 years ago I spent Thanksgiving Day in Battle Mountain Nevada.  I'd taken off for San Francisco right from work on Wednesday afternoon, and started driving into the night.  About 7 hours into that never ending flat tundra of Northern Nevada, my car started dying right on the freeway.  It was the alternator.  I got out of my car and a man in a mini-van pulled over and said the next exit was just about 200 yards away and he'd take me.  When I got into the van, there was a .38 calibur handgun on the floorboard by my feet. I freaked out a little, thinking that if he reached for it I'd knee him in the head.  But he just drove me to the exit and to the NAMPA parts store.  The store was closed, but he knew the owner and brought him back.  It was about 10:00 p.m.  They opened the store and we went inside.  Almost every  inch of available wall space overhead was covered with hunting trophies (Elk and deer heads, moose, etc).  A thousand hunted animals stared down at me standing at the counter, where the owner said an alternator for my VW GTI would cost me about $400. $400 I asked?  $400 he said flatly.   So I said thanks, I think I'll call my Dad.  And then I walked out into the bitter cold to where I saw a motel off the freeway. It was a Holiday Inn Express.  I asked the Manger if I could use the phone and I called my Dad collect.  I told him what happened, he agreed it was the alternator, and he said he'd be there in the morning with a new one.  So Thanksgiving morning I woke up, walked around town.  There were 3 buildings: The NAMPA parts store, a bar/restauraunt called the Owl Club, and the Motel.  I spent the morning in the Owl Club reading the Battle Mountain Bugle---first page news was a group of pictures of all the children who had turned one years old that month in Battle Mountain and a story about plowing the snow off 'main street' earlier that week.  I walked back to the Motel and my Dad and his wife showed up around 11:00 a.m. They had brought a turkey, potatoes and gravy, stuffing, and yams kept warm in a cooler.  They set the table with a linen cloth in the tiny conference room of the Holiday in Express, and there we ate thanksgiving dinner in Battle Moutain making a toast with Martenelli's cider from styrofoam cups.  Then my Daddy fixed the carburator and we drove back together, the rest of the way to San Francisco.  That was a Happy Thanksgiving.

Aside from riding the stationary yesterday for an hour while I watched a movie, I have run on the ground every other day. It's made my hip hurt again. I've performed due diligence with the stretching, redoubling my efforts on the days my feet hit the ground. It does help a lot, the special torque, the foot strike, and all that stretching-- but the pain never really goes away and is more stiff if I run days in a row. I think it's a matter of time more than any stretching or cross training for it to heal. That and maybe trying not to aggravate it further (biking and doing Yoga on off days). I felt so heavy today (well no duh with all that food I've eaten since Thursday). Thanksgiving lasts 4 ½ days at my house. It's a happy time of sage cornbread stuffing, sweet potato pie, and fresh cranberry relish. But makes for heavy running. The outside world around here has lost every bit of interesting colour this week and now matches my dishwater brown hair. It's all beige landscape and grey clouds. Even the surface of the lake is steely grey-green. The only saving grace is the silent, dark, winter depth of the river and the roosting trees. The occasional roosting tree hosts unfathomable numbers of tiny black birds perched in the branches a single leafless tree. Those little black birds perch shoulder to shoulder on every branch, and there are groups that fly in a single black mass around the tree. The raucous chirping is every bit as busy and loud as downtown NYC.