Surroundings

Yesterday I parked at the little beach here on the lake and ran on the boardwalk and then through the town square and out past the ball fields and the schools to the airport. I've done this run a lot since we moved here. It's a nice run and in the beginning I used to really "look" at my surroundings. As with anything else we humans do, as we get more used to where we are we don't see things the way we did when they were new to us.

Early in the morning the beach is so nice and peaceful. No one is up yet, no screaming kids in the water, just the lapping of waves on the sand and a few ducks. I love this time of the day, it seems that I notice the beauty of my surroundings more in the early morning. The sun reflecting off of the water, the fish jumping out past the boardwalk. I think we need to pay more attention to what is around us all the time, not just when it's new to us.

Then on to the square, a cute little Texas square with the courthouse in the middle, shops and businesses all around it. The morning is the time when it begins to come alive. Folks arrive to get their stores ready for tourists. They open their doors, sweep off the sidewalk, water the flowers in the pots they all have outside, say good morning to one another and share a coffee at the local coffee shop. Although it's terribly hot in the middle of the day, the mornings are still nice enough that being outside is refreshing, so they all mingle and visit, and decide that today will be a good day for business.

Then I run down through some old neighborhoods, some houses from the 1400's. They are beautiful and call out with a history we can never know.

On to the ball fields, all empty, sprinklers taking advantage of the morning. And then past the schools. This is the week they begin their quest for education once again, or their parents quest for their education. The students have not arrived but the teachers are arriving, chatting about the summer ending and now they have to work again. What will their students be like this year I hear one say. New superintendent, will he help or hurt? Amazing what you hear while you are running.

And so a new cycle begins. And it's beautiful to be alive to see another cycle. Just wish my knee would quit hurting :).

Running....sigh

It's been awhile hasn't it? Here is a summary of what is happening. My knee has been bothering me again since the kickball game. So I've backed down, doing more cross training, walking before my runs, shortening my runs, and running them slower. I am at a point now (again) where it doesn't realy hurt it just feels "funny". Coach has me doing some new strength training for my knee so hopefully that will help.

In the mean time I am doing two workouts a day on many days. Swimming and Yoga or running and swimming, or running and yoga. Today I ran this morning and I may swim after work and it's a yoga night. It's great to get 3 good workouts in for a day!

I'm working on healing once again. I am always going to have this issue, anytime I do anything differently my knee is going to react. I just don't know what to do to keep that from happening. The doc and the coach both say it's a matter of just building up slowly and not doing anything new without the build up to it. Makes sense, and looking back I can see times when I knew I was doing too much. But at the time you just don't think about it. SIGH!

Bummer

After the kickball game previously mentioned my knee continues to be sore. I ran 4 days in a row last week and it is not getting better so now I am taking a couple of days off of running to see if it will feel better. It's not really hurting but pretty sore. Sigh, this healing process is taking FOREVER! I so wish I had done it right the first time.

I did run 8 in Ruidoso on Sunday. Oh how I love the mountains. I love the dry air, cool temperatures. I am struggling with my longing to go home.

Kickball!

This last weekend at a get together with the kids, their future spouses, and some of their friends we drank beer and ate, sat in the river, and slept. Oh and had one mean game of kickball.

I have not played kickball since I was a kid, I had forgotten how much fun it is. However, when you have had a knee issue it's not the best game to play. Needless to say I was sore. Not just the knee but the hamstrings were crying out "what? speedwork? kickball? are you NUTS".

It was "The Arringtons" against the rest. That would be me, Terry, Tanner, and Taryn against the other 4 with one being "all time pitcher". And with valiant effort... we lost.

After getting home on Sunday and running on Monday with a sore knee I was concerned that I had really done myself in this time. But today it feels better and I was able to run 5 this morning with a bit of pain but not much and later in the day it feels much better. It simply gets sore when I do anything new.

Let's face it, injuries suck! And age sucks, harder to heal as we get older.