Patience; the new endurance sport.

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.