AM - I took Friday off to let my body recover from 2 consecutive hard days. I thought about running the golf course hill under the moonlight, but I felt tired after watching 2 episodes of Jericho with Rachel and fell asleep before I could convince myself to get outside. But, I somehow woke up at 3:45am, looked out the window and saw the moon, and got up and ran to the hill. The moon was still in the sky when I started running, but it was covered in a gloomy mist, so the light on the fairway was poor. I had a bit of asthma, which is normal this time of year, but after running up and down for 30 minutes it went away. I got into a nice groove, listening to the sound of the trucks going by on the highway and the thoughts in my head. I was trying to clarify an idea which intrigued me, and it took 6 or 7 times running up and down the hill for me to figure out a 2 sentence solution. When it takes that long for me to figure something out, it usually sticks, so it was worth the mental struggle. I notice that my creative energy is best at a very early hour, maybe it is because there is a lot of empty energy floating around in space because of all the sleeping people? I worked the hill until I saw a faint light in the sky, then ran to the Cottage, where I work, to get some water and chia seeds. The sunrise was sublime and soothing, a delicate pink with feather-like clouds scooting around the horizon. There was left over pineapple in the fridge, so I ate a few chunks. I was surprised to see that I had been running for almost 2 hours. It felt like 60 minutes. I decided to run 2 miles to Brookens and do strength exercises. I cut through the railyard because that would lead me straight to Brookens. I also knew the wide open spaces there would allow a great view of the brightening sky. There were black and rusted railcars sitting idle in the weeds, and I stopped 5 or 6 times to admire peculiar vistas which would have made a good photograph or painting.
After Brookens I walked 1 mile home. It was 8:00am, so about a 4 hour workout. I still have a lot of energy, so I am thinking of going to the arboretum in the late afternoon to run an hour or two of hills. I better take a nap beforehand! PM - I took a 90 minute nap mid afternoon, then ran 1.75 miles to the arboretum. A light rain was falling, which made things easy for me as I ran up and down the hill. I ran an easy pace on the hill for 1 hour and 40 minutes, then ran 1 mile back to town. No knee stiffness felt during any part of either run today, so things are going well right now. I did not feel overly tired, energy was at a high level, I guess 2 hour run segments have gotten easy for me. I need to keep in mind that my knee felt awesome leading up to the Devil's Lake 50k, then during the early part of the race everything went to hell. I am doing everything I can to be ready for the upcoming 50 miler, I hope the knee behaves on race day.
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