I was surprised to see that my last post was so long ago – June 20 - and included a photo of a dozen or more boxes of books next to the piano still to be sorted or given away. Tempus fugit! Now, by the middle of August, all of those books have been sorted, and other than the occasional picture to be hung (like the lovely Oriental print we found in a thrift store in Brevard last week), we can now say that we have completely moved in. In place of those boxes of books, most of which were donated to the Bookworm, I have hung all my marathon photos, which in our old house were hidden away behind the fireplace – “The Wall of Dubious Behavior,” I used to call it.
It has been a long time since my last marathon, and I have not even run a 5-K race this year, but it is inspiring to remember the runner I used to be. Moving occupied so much time and energy that my running dropped off to as little as one mile per week. Then, during the middle of last month, I contracted a respiratory virus that hit so hard that it reminded me of having Covid in France in 2022. And then I gave it to Martha, which made me feel even worse. Now we are both recovering, although I feel as if I am climbing up out of a hole.
But I have been here before, and my fitness and energy is slowly returning. I continue to turn another page in my running log each week and see what I can do. Yesterday I completed four miles (with plenty of walking breaks), during which I suddenly found the urge to include a single 400-meter “burst” of relative speed, just a few seconds slower than my last attempt at 400 meters in November. Has it been that long? Still, it is amazing how much only a few seconds, or an additional mile, can inspire and motivate the aging, out-of-shape, recovering runner.
I will not be running the Twilight 5-K this Saturday, but I will be watching from the corner of the road – the course goes right past our home, now – and cheering on other runners, just as I have been cheered on in the past. I will be an onlooker, a spectator. I will call out, “Looking Good!” Words that have often lifted my spirits at the finish line in the past. And I will turn another page in my running log.
