Saturday, August 31, 2013

Post I Started A Couple Of Posts Ago

   So what was I in the middle of doing before the Sunshine Award and ROM entered my life....? Oh yeah, just a little update on my last training run!
   Have you ever had one of those days when you  feel like you want to run but you don't have a particular type of run planned so you get your gear on, head outside and then just... stop? And stand there at the end of your driveway, looking like a fool because you have all this twitchy energy and you don't know whether to go left or right, run hard or run soft? You don't know whether you want to do that hilly run, a trail run, a long run, or maybe hill repeats?
   I had that kind of run a couple of days ago, it wasn't even supposed to be a run day but I woke up feeling like I wanted to run so why not? Did some stretching, strapped on the Garmin and phone, threw on a sweatband and my cap and headed off. To the end of the driveway. Here is where my lack of actual planning kicked in. There were just way too many options for different kinds of runs, any one of which would have scratched my itch. Not only did I have all of the above options but I then doubled them by not being certain whether or not to maybe do them in the opposite direction.
   Finally I decided on a trail run. It had been awhile since I'd done one and I thought it might be fun so I started off.
   About two minutes later it occurred to me that I really needed to be able to discern the difference between "twitchy" energy and actual energy. I was about that far into the run when I realised I wasn't going to be able to complete it without walking, I was pretty well exhausted already! So I walked.
   I walked for about 200 hundred meters when all of the sudden a little bit of that twitchy stuff re-appeared. So I sprinted! And then walked again. And by then I was at a hill so I sprinted up the hill. By then I was at the forest so I ran hard on the trails and sprinted up every hill I found there.
   As I mentioned, it had been a while since I'd done the trail run I usually do.
   Here is what I discovered!

   Yes, part of my trail had almost totally disappeared! Funny how grass and weeds will grow over the summer! Not only that but it was also soaking wet from dew but I managed to make my way through anyway.
   Once the trail portion was done and I was back on concrete, I continued my run/sprint/walk routine, sprinting up anything that looked like a hill or an incline.
   Finally I was back on my own street. I was tired enough that I decided I would simply walk the last half of a kilometer. Well, I must have entered some sort of exhausted Zen-like state because as I was walking some kid on a bike came up very silently behind me, waited until he was right beside me, and then yelled "Rollie-ollie-OLLIE-oh!!"
   Well, on the "rollie" my body propelled itself two feet off the ground and by the second "ollie" I'd returned to earth with a thud. Grabbed my heart, put it back into the chest cavity, and became more aware of my surroundings.
   The kid on the bike was now looking back at me and smiling. I smiled back and...took off after him! His eyes got a little wider and he started pedalling hard.  I called out to him, "Gonna getcha, kid!" The kid looked back and his eyes got even  wider when he realized I was actually catching up!
   Now, I may be sixty, but I am extremely fast over short distances. As I was getting closer to the kid, I knew that I could catch up. The thought then ran through my head what happens when I do catch up? The very next thought was and how good does it look already to the neighbours, an old geezer chasing a young boy down the street?

   So I stopped, and the kid pulled away to, I'm sure, some relief on his part. I smiled at him, and yelled, "Getcha next time, kid!" He smiled back and sort of waved as he disappeared around the next corner.
   Fortunately, I was able to record all this! Cheers!

2 comments:

  1. You surprised this kid as much as he surprised you. Great story. I'm pleased to find another 60AG writer out here in the blogosphere.

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  2. We ARE kind of few and far between, Mary Lou! Thanks for the comments, just wondering what part of the world you're from? Enjoyed reading your most recent posts as well, awesome "Route 66" plan, good luck with that!

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