Departure

While I have often extolled the virtues of consistency in this blog, every runner should feel as if it is all right to depart from the training plan.  This is especially true for a tired, dehydrated runner who may be over-training and whose next race is four weeks away.

I had run six 400-meter intervals on Thursday  and it just zapped me.  Then I mowed the lawn late in the morning on Friday in humidity that was, as described by the Asheville weatherman, "uncomfortable" (although not yet "oppressive").  So I had been dreading the usual Saturday morning 10-miler.  That was when we both decided to give it a miss and take our Mini (new tires, wheels aligned on Friday) out on a little spin.  No excuses necessary when the open road beckons! 

We took a long, circuitous ramble, down to Franklin, lunch in Clayton, then across to Hiawassee, and up through Andrews, where we found a good place for a Mini shot!

Then we headed up the road to Topton, and Robbinsville, and finally to Snowbird Mountain Lodge, one of our favorite places on earth and a worthy destination for those seeking Departure.  It was a bit of a splurge because we had just been there a little over two weeks ago for our 38th anniversary, but it was exactly what this runner needed.  Rest!  Good food!

This morning found us sipping coffee, sitting on the porch swing, watching the finches and bluebirds, a non-threatening fat cat sprawled lazily on the walk just around the corner.

I spent some time in Snowbird's wonderful library Saturday, reading a travel book about Maine, revisiting some of the places we had visited on our trip in April.  The writer speculated why folks who retired to Maine lived longer than those who retired to Florida; he thought it was because they stayed more active, hiking and skiing and gardening.  He quoted an old German proverb:  "Rast ich, so rost ich."  When I rest, I rust.

I like that.  There is a fine line between rest and rust, after all:  only one letter!  Still, a runner needs to know when to prop his feet up, or sit in a porch swing.  And I will be thinking of that tomorrow when I plan to run up Bearpen once again.