Whenever I near the peak of a long training cycle, I often have to remind myself that running over the same roads and trails for many hours over many weeks is not always the same, so long as I pay attention: the albino peacock hesitating, one foot raised, in a field of dew-heavy clover; the gradual lightening of the sky in early dawn revealing new and constantly changing patterns of cloud; the way the quality and texture of light changes as my part of the world swirls a little further from the sun; the statuesque opossum stiffened in death by the roadside; the high chattering of the rogue flock of parrots in the power lines by the lake; the oddly pleasant deep ache of my muscles as I turn up a hill. These are the reasons I run and sit: to bear witness to and celebrate the eternal changes, the coming and passing of a million tiny things as I slowly pass through them … all of it, and all of us, arising from nothing, returning to nothing, over and over.
It’s getting cooler over the past few days. Fall is here, even if Summer is still stuck in the doorway, saying goodbyes. Just one more weekend of hard training, and it’s time to taper for Palo Duro.
May I continue to stay aware, and be thankful.
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 42-minute tempo @ 8:00-8:10 pace
Wednesday: 1.5 hours @ moderate/easy pace
Thursday: 1/4 mile simulated hills repeats: 1 x 6% incline @ 8:27 pace, 2 x 7% incline @ 8:27 pace, 3 x 7% incline @ 8:20 pace.
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 5 hours; very humid
Sunday: 4 hours; very humid
