Did a six-mile evening run the other day that was anything but easy.  The overall was just a little off, nothing major but the whole thing just wasn’t good.  Well it wasn’t all bad, saw a bunch of these guys while I was on the trail.

I have always been envious (and maybe a little suspicious) of people who can head out on a run and all the troubles of the day just fade into the background for them.  I am not one of those people, I have never been one of those people and I never will be one of those people.  On occasion, I can get that feeling with bike rides when I am just out to spin the tires and really don’t care about the pace.  Truthfully, I come closest to it when I swim laps in the pool but it never lasts afterwards and I am rarely in the pool for more than 30 minutes anymore these days.  When it comes to running, I run simply because it is one of the three legs of a triathlon and it is what I am worst at.  This means I have to work harder at it so I can maybe someday be considered “weak in that discipline” as opposed to “it kind of looks like running but what the hell is it”.

Running for me is a study in pain management.  It isn’t a question of whether something will hurt while I am running, rather it is how many things and how badly.  I had a knee injury in my mid-twenties that still causes problems from time to time.  Looking back at old pictures of different races it is interesting to see how often I wore a brace while on the course.  On some level I guess it is a testament to playing hockey that I no longer wear one.  Don’t get me wrong, it still hurts when I push past two miles but it doesn’t feel like it is going to give out (happened before, made for a long walk back).  Both ankles hurt and lately I have been feeling pain the next day in my hip flexors.  In short, running is a rotating wheel of pain.  I always worry when I start to get near the turnaround point on any run since that is when I am farthest from home and if something is going to fall apart it will be there.  At least on the six mile runs I can see my turnaround spot from pretty far off.

You have to admit that I am not likely to ”accidentally” run past it and miss the turn.  You probably have noticed that I keep taking pictures of stuff along the way.  I am doing this to give me something to focus on other than the fact that I am running.  Otherwise all I do is try go get to the next under crossing or to the next telephone pole.  I just try to chop it into little bites in the hope that it will be easier to swallow.  Unlike brussels sprouts though I have yet to find a way for bacon to make running better.