Hooves

 

As I ran around the track doing all my damnable loops to get to my usual ~10 miles (~16km), I began to think about, "How long will I try to keep this up?"  Some days it is enjoyable.  But, some days it really is rather exhausting and I would rather remain in bed longer.  

I always feel good when I am FINISHED running for the day.  Sometimes I feel good because I showed myself I could do it.  Sometimes I feel good because the damn task is DONE for the day.  And, on days when I am not really wanting to run, I will feel "good" afterwards because I can finally STOP running.

Part of the issue I think, though, is that I am currently, and  have been for months now, stuck running INSIDE on a damn oval track (or occasionally a treadmill, which is a whole helluva lot worse).  Running on a treadmills is shear tedium.  Running on a track is better, but only marginally so.  I am hopeful that once I can again venture outside daily, my mood about running will improve. 

The consistency is important, however.  Besides the (obvious) fact that some aspect of my personality CRAVES consistency, running consistently is the only way I can hope to maintain the ability to "Run the Year" again.  If I do so this year, it will be the fifth year in a row.  For a grey, old, wrinkly, codger, that is decent accomplishment of sorts.  I think if I were to suspend running (take a break) in any appreciable sense, I likely would never again get back to the 50 mile/week (~80km/week) average.  My allowing myself to nudge down from 53 miles/week (~85km/week) down to 50 miles/week at the start of 2023 has shown me that it is a risk to become lax.  I have NEVER had a week of 53 miles since that time.  None in 2023 nor any this year in 2024. I feel chagrined about this.  

I do not know if I can muster the energy to complete this year's "Run the Year".... but I hope so.  I am not sure, but I have been thinking that perhaps this will be my last year trying to do this.  I do not know.  It makes me nervous.  

I had a beautifully odd, but pleasant dream last evening.  It was only a snippet, but it seems like I experienced this snippet in many different replicates and from many different "camera angles".  The focus in this repetitious dream, was my opening of a brand new, pound-can, of Sir Walter Raleigh pipe tobacco.  Of course I had this action be reality many, many times across the years.  But, in the dream, especially vivid was with each instance of opening the can, I experienced the delightful, classic "hiss" sound as the vacuum seal was disrupted by my using the pull tab on the metal lid and air rushed in.  Also vivid was the uniquely beautiful aroma of a full pound can of the beautiful cube-cut burley leaf that is Sir Walter Raleigh. Also, the small "clink" sound that would always occur as the last small part of the metal lid pulled away from the can was like a melody.  Then I would fluff-up the top layer of the pipe tobacco a bit, before putting a handful or two into my zippered, leather tobacco pouch.  It seems like in this dream I repeated the same above pattern a good dozen times, each beautiful, each flooding so many of my senses with beauty.

PipeTobacco