Category: Running

Pat tagged me to write about my 23rd post. Well I have a 23rd post, but it only has 3 sentences, so I’ll use that one:

By the time I finish the Marathon, I will have logged over 500 miles in under 8 months.

So, what does that say about me – at that time I was training for the Raleigh Marathon and was in much better shape that I am now. In fact, I’ve not been running in about a year. I am trying to get back in shape and have started walking regularly.

On my run this morning, several things happened to me: 1) I almost froze, and 2) I saw Orion again. As Bob mentioned in his blog, the weather has turned and we are having a nice spell of cool weather. WRAL says it is 54 degrees right now, but when you are used to running in the 70′s or 80′s, it was quite a change. Also, this is the first morning in some time when there was no cloud cover and the sun rose late enough that the stars were out and boy were they out! Orion was low over the southeast sky and Venus was shining brightly above the brightening eastern skyline.

In the heat of the south, I can only run in the early morning. Therefore, I get up about 5:00 am to run on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I always enjoy running in the dark as the sky slowly starts to lighten and the stars fade toward dawn. There is something like rebirth about seeing a new day start. After my run, I feel the alive and energized and renewed. Putting those two together makes my morning runs very enjoyable

Wednesday (2 days ago) while on my run, I noticed Orion on the sky. But wait, Orion is a winter constellation. I only see it when it is cold. It makes me think about fall and winter. Does that mean fall is on its way. Orion is already up in the early morning (5:00 am) and is slowly working its way across the sky so that it can be seen earlier and earlier.

Like our ancestors before, I felt like I had witnessed a heavenly sign that the seasons are about to change. It does not help that I had just read Jen’s blog entry about her feeling the seasons about to change. I know that it will still be hot for some time to come, but the fall is slowly creeping across the sky toward us.

Three months ago was September 11, 2001. I didn’t run that day but I did run a long run on the 12th. I think that running helped me cope with that was going on in New York and Washington, DC. Running those 13+ miles did a number of things. It made me tired so I slept better, it pumped me full of endorphins so I felt better, and it made me do something for almost 3 hours where I could not watch CNN or hardly even think about the events of the day before. I know that many people around me were greatly affected by the terrorism but I think that running helped me get through it much better than most. Sure I was angry. Sure I was sad. But I also had an outlet for the stress and anger and other emotions that overwhelmed many. Running helped me get past the furry and fear and begin to heal.

Five days after the marathon, I feel much better except for my right foot. My foot still bothers me when I drive and I’m beginning to wonder if it will take longer than the normal week to fully recover. I play on trying some light running this weekend to see how I feel afterwards. I plan on starting slowly and working back up to a 3-5 mile run over the next few weeks.