balance

I lead an active life. It's often difficult for me to gain a detached view of a larger picture. This conversation has brought me a long way along a good road.

Pam's friend John is likely close to finishing the Winnipeg Hypo-half as I write this. He's wearing what was going to be my bib and although it stings a little still, I'm on firmer ground now.

On rising this morning I was clear on what goals are ahead. I got to the Santa Shuffle accidentally in the best shape I've been in for twenty or more years. I felt empowered, relaxed and confident in my abilities.

The major hurdles of running a marathon are for me, getting enough miles in to avoid crumpling like a cheap suit when my muscles run out of fuel. The mental aspects are another matter, but coming to the start in strong condition is what I'm after.

Whether it be a short race or a long one, I'm there to celebrate whatever genetics I bring to the table.

The things I want to sacrifice for running are lifestyle choices that are long over due. The devil is in the details though. I believe I am hard wired to resist change. It may be a coded norm to keep groups stable and more likely to survive, I don't know. I do know that changing, independent of surroundings is difficult like nothing else. Slow learner maybe. :P

There maybe times where I set aside a block of months to make room for more running, but not now. There are too many signals of warning through others examples of the threshold being much lower than expected for a 47 year old new to the game. I've got lots of time to adapt if I remain healthy and I have a whole lot to learn about leaving myself a maximum of health to recover with.

If and when I can play on a higher level than that from a position of strength, then maybe I can take the time to formalise a training program, worry about times, race for something other than the thrill of participating with birds of a feather and bear down on training more heavily.

With limits below 20 miles a week, I'll now try and gain some experience with recovery, with the aim to learn how best to recover most strongly. I've played with the application of the stress now for a year and a half but have always put the stress above the recovery.

The pendulum swings.