Falling Back

Last night we participated in that ridiculous annual ritual of setting our clocks back as "Daylight Savings Time" ended.  Only a fool would believe that daylight can be saved, or that we can "gain an hour."  It's disruptive to pets and farms animals (and runners), who don't know when they are supposed to go to sleep, or wake up, or eat.  As I write, it is mid-afternoon and it already seems to be getting dark outside.

I have fallen back in another way, too, finishing my run on Thursday feeling absolutely spent, and realizing by Friday that I had contracted a nasty little virus which has now settled into my chest.  So the old rule of thumb - if congestion is above the throat, it is OK to run; if it is below the throat, take a day off - has waylaid this runner.  And it has made me realize what a precious thing it is to be healthy and fit.  It has only been three days and I already feel the results of not running, not only physically but mentally.  I feel like Prince Hamlet when he cries out in melancholy:

"How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable

Seem to me all the uses of this world!"

I did the next best thing to shake off this mood, though, walking one or two miles each day, looking at these beautiful leaves that to my mind have reached their very peak of beauty, not because of the fanfare and perfection of brilliant color but because of this quieter music, the nuances, the little cracks and mottled shades of color.  We walk down the road these days and hear the continuous, gentle sound of leaves falling to the ground all around us.

This morning I lazed around the house, drinking an extra cup of coffee and doing what many runners do on this first Sunday in November - watching the NYC marathon.  This year saw Shalane Flanagan, whose career I have followed with admiration for years, winning the women's race - the first time for an American woman in 40 years.  What a joy it was to watch her cross that finish line, so far ahead of everybody else, those long legs pumping and that long blond ponytail swinging from side to side.  There was no falling back with her!

And when I return to running tomorrow or the next day, I will remember this picture as an inspiration for my own humble finish lines.  And my own determination to keep moving forward despite what the clock tells us to do.

 "Do not fear going forward slowly; 

fear only to stand still."

 - Chinese Proverb