My wonderful wife gave me a Valentine's Day gift. It was an unusual gift. It involved a two night getaway to a cozy cottage on the Wenatchee River, just outside of the quaint Bavarian-styled village of Leavenworth, WA. What's unusual about that? Well...it's a getaway for ME ONLY. It took me a couple of months to cash in on the gift, due to my workload. In fact, that's what the gift was all about – giving me a chance to decompress after 5 months of craziness with my business. At one point, I threw down a stretch of 40 days without a day off. Let me just say that I'm having a blast enjoying the scenery, solitude, and the hot tub on my deck overlooking the Wenatchee River, watching Osprey flying by in search of a juicy fish.
Nice, you say, but what does this have to do with running? Well, today I took advantage of the dirt & cinder trail by the river and got in my longest "run" in my current rehab cycle. It was two miles of a run/walk (1 min. each). It was incredibly satisfying, even aside from my compliant heel. During this run, I had a bit of a revelation. Not incredibly profound, but a moment of clarity about my immediate future as a runner. This ties in with my "Balance" mantra I wrote about at the beginning of this year. Running is still my passion (exercise-wise), and will remain so. But, knowing that I'm typically an "all-or-nothing" type of person, I'll be focusing much more on staying strong overall with a varied approach...and for the first time in awhile, I'm perfectly okay with that. In fact, I plan on building up, gradually, to a point where I test my speed in shorter races, using my approach of no more than three runs per week (along with a long bike ride and a swim, plus two days of weights). I wouldn't use this approach to train for a marathon (or even a half), but I won't be training for those anytime soon. I'm actually excited about this, whereas before I looked at it as a necessary evil in order to not re-injure myself (or not stay injured, as the case may be). I'm not there yet, but by later this year, I hope to start upping the intensity a bit, while moderating the volume and frequency of my runs.
So, unless it's the elation of this head-clearing getaway talking, I'm excited to see what happens!
Wow, what an AMAZING gift. Way to go Mrs Resurrected!
ReplyDeleteBTW, having a blast surfing your work website and checking out all of the pictures.
Yahoo!!!Sounds like the kind of day we all live for. Balance has been cropping up in my mantras a lot lately as well. I also like your plans for running, best of good wishes for continued progress!
ReplyDeletePretty amazing gift ... and a pretty amazing wife. Sounds like an amazing place.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a wise plan for your running future. If your success with your weight-loss/build-muscle plan was any indication, I feel sorry for whomever has to face you in those shorter races.
Whoa, looks like you have had some good introspection during your "retreat". It sounds incredible. Your wife seems like a keeper.
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear some acceptance of your "current" condition. Sounds very prudent. Who knows what next year holds too. You may come back and slowly build up to stronger than before. It happens alot.
Bliss. Most people can't comprehend a get away with just themselves only. It sounds like your wife knew exactly what you needed.
ReplyDeleteRevelations are a wonderful thing. I think you're on the right track, building back up. Take care!