I stayed up late last night to take care of an urgent matter so I chose to skip the morning run. I did take an early lunch and get in 3.75 miles before meeting up with Tom and Nathan for our noon run. We ran the old Lake View run at an easy pace. I was especially careful on the dirt path where I twisted my ankle last Wednesday. This was my first run since then. I ran out front so I could have a clear view of the path ahead. That path really needs some maintenance.
My ankle felt pretty strong, but not quite 100%. We'll see how it feels this afternoon and tomorrow morning. So many of my buddies are training so well right now. I don't want to fall too far behind. Now that the relay is over, it's time to focus for the next three months on preparing for the St. George marathon, and the half marathons leading up to it.
I've been reading the book "Mormon Scientist" about renowned scientist Henry Eyring. He called himself a "happy muddler". He counsels that there will always be many unanswered questions: "In fact, each answer seems to raise more questions . . . Actually, that's what makes science and religion, fun. Faith is feeling good about myself, feeling good about God, and muddling along after truth as best I can . . . I'm a happy muddler". I like the approach of just being happy and doing the best I can with what I'm given and not worrying too much about things I don't know or I can't control. I plan to just happily muddle my way to St. George, training as much as my body and my schedule allow. For me, training and fitness and achievement and PRs are just means to
an end. The ultimate goal is to be happy, not just at the destination but
all along the journey, smooth or bumpy, rain or shine. | 