"365 New Days, 365 New Chances"

It was Martha's turn to write something on the little blackboard in the kitchen today, and this is what she wrote.  365 Days!  How true, and how timely, as 2014 draws to a conclusion and 2015 begins!

Let's take a few chances in 2015!

The End of the Old and the Beginning of the New

Temperatures turned unseasonably warm in Highlands today - up to 55 degrees by afternoon - and the sun was shining warmly, like summer lemonade.  Turnout for the Saturday group run was smaller than usual (because of holiday obligations, I think), but those who did show up were rewarded with almost balmy conditions.

Winter Solstice is over, Christmas is over, and a New Year will shortly be upon us.  Karen, always the comedienne, noted that the day seemed a little longer already.  And it is true - we are nearly a week closer to Summer Solstice; we have circled around the marker on this long out-and-back course and are heading home.  It seemed as if all morning I was talking to one runner after another about upcoming running plans.   Fred and Paul are running races in January and February, Martha and I are looking at February and April.  With the whole morning in front of me, I completed 10 miles - my first double-digit run since my marathon in November. 

It's a time for reflection and hope, a summing up of what we did and did not accomplish this year and the roads we are looking forward to running in 2015. Are we ready for 2015?  As children's author Lemony Snicket said, "If we wait until we're ready, we'll be waiting for the rest of our lives."  I'd rather get out on the road, wouldn't you?  Why wait?

Recovery

It has been thirty days since my last marathon now, and I have to confess that recovery has been slower than expected.  I fared pretty well at first, but last week, in anticipation of a rained-out Saturday, I foolishly ran three days in a row.  And as if that wasn't enough, I went to the gym on the third day and did two or three sets of plyometric jump squats after my run.  What was I thinking? 

I guess I was thinking that I was in my 50s instead of my 60s.  Because I have often recovered so well from running a marathon back in my early 50s that I followed it up with a 5-K only a month or two later.  There is no way I could have done that this time, or if I tried I would have been reduced to 12-minutes miles.

But there is always hope, and progress, if a runner perseveres, and today I had a very nice 3-mile run, averaging 10-minute miles.  These days, that is progress.

Paul Weiss one said, "The distance race is a struggle that results in self-discovery.  It is an adventure involving the limits of self."  So I ask myself, in these weeks before Christmas as I stave off the familiar post-marathon blues, what did I discover during those long miles, crossing that big bridge to Manteo?  I suppose one thing I discovered is that I am an older runner, and so I must be a wiser runner. I also discovered that the deadline for early sign-up for the Flying Pirate Half Marathon in April was fast approaching!  So I signed up - we both signed up.  Because I have discovered that I must continue to have goals.  Or as our friends at the OBX say, "Run for a reason!"