Shaking Off Stiff Legs

Here we are at the Outer Banks, preparing to run the Flying Pirate Half Marathon on April 19.  My ten-mile run on Friday went well; although I had originally intended to go 12 miles, my legs felt plenty fatigued after only 10 miles.  But it was that good fatigue, all the stiffness done, all the little aches and pains and "niggles" - even the tight hamstring and that vaguely-documented ghost in the background called "piriformis syndrome" appearing to dissolve over the long miles.

This morning, after traveling 550 miles with my legs pretty much locked into a single position, and taking only a few breaks along the way, I feel like an old man, sore all over, my knees and my hips aching in places they do not ache when I run.  This is an understanding that comes time and time again to the distance runner:  activity is good for us, inactivity is just the opposite.  We are designed to be in motion, to be covering ground, to be moving and living and breathing.  Such a simple concept!  But it is a lesson forgotten by so many former athletes who have slid down the slippery slope from mere paunchiness to obesity, or those many men and women who do not even know what it is like to be strong and flexible - the young men and women we saw when we stopped along the road who looked as if they had never done any type of physical activity at all.  What a waste!

This morning I know that after running a few miles, the stiffness will slide away behind me.  Thank God for this wonderful gift of running and fitness.