It’s barely August but today feels like Fall. 59 degrees and a cozy layer of clouds hint at days to come. Tomorrow’s high of 96 will be harsh, but today is a love note from the Universe.
Summer is a time to get away from any routine or structure. With kids home from school I don’t get out to run as frequently in the mornings. I miss lots of Saturday Morning runs with the girls due to camping and family obligations. It’s hard to reflect and write.
Summer is a season of “doing”. I never get as much sleep in the summer due to the late sunset and early sunrise (I have to really work to ignore the Circadian rhythm). There are 500 different things to do during the summer and for the life of me, I can’t get them all done. It’s a time of Doing with very little time to reflect.
As much as I love the action of the season, I always look forward to Fall.
I love the cooler temperatures and not drowning in my own sweat.
I love the fall colors of the mountain.
I love the cloud coverage and the mist that sits in the forest on certain morning.
I love waking up at a 5:30 or 6am when it’s still dark.
I love seeing the sun crest the horizon halfway through my run rather than chasing it down when I’m still sleep-deprived from the previous night.
Fall is a “let’s get moving” time of year, where kids go back to school, there’s a new spurt of energy and we ease into routine once again.
My twitter feed is getting noisy with people talking about fall marathons and trail races. Friday night discussions about Long Slow Runs are popping up again, as well as pictures of sore ankles, lost toenails and the like.
My calendar has several races already on it for the fall and today’s cool weather is a good reminder that it’s time to get serious about training again.
I ran Bobolink yesterday and managed some Marathon (and Half Marathon) paced miles in addition to the warm-up and “get the blood moving” miles. The faster miles revealed tight muscles that need to be attended to before I ramp up again.
After the run I stretched hamstrings and adductors, and while sitting on the couch last night I massaged the leg and slathered tiger balm all over. Today it’s a little sore from the deep tissue kneading. I won’t run today but will hit a trail tomorrow morning.
“Ramping up” will consist of every-other-day running for at least two more weeks. In the past I’ve run whenever it felt good and got injured because I pushed too hard or fast. This fall I want to be smart about the running; come January when Boston Marathon training begins I want to be completely healthy and strong.
In two weeks I’ll be in Leadville pacing a runner. He’s attempting to run 100 miles in 24 hours and while I could pace him 16 miles tomorrow, I’d like a better base before I run around the mountain at 10,000 feet for a few hours.
My self-treatment regimen consists of stretching, self-massage, yoga, tiger balm, arnica and castor oil wraps. After torturing myself with Pigeon Pose and whatever else I can think of, I’ll put a castor oil wrap on the leg to draw out any inflammation and encourage blood flow to the muscles and tendons.
Tomorrow I’ll hit the trail and will spend a few hours on the mountain as an ultra runner, paying close attention to heart rate, tempo and terrain.
