so i have again picked up my running. i am not sure what prompted this conversion from a completely sedentary lifestyle back to restlessness - but for the last two weeks i have been able to do regular 8k runs without getting injured, mostly my commute to work. in the hope of making it to the huff50k on 12/30 i knew that sooner or later i had to include some trail running and especially some longer distances. so last sunday was to be the day for my first long, trail run in an eternity. i picked the 17 mile boy scout perimeter trail around oak opening metro park west of toledo, it is a pretty trail and i wanted to have something soothing my eyes for the time the rest of my body would be falling apart. i used to do this run fairly regularly in about 3 hours, but that was in a previous lifetime, 30 pounds lighter, with regular long-distance and trail miles in my legs, and with a mind ready to be idle for hours on end ...

i sure was nervous. i did not sleep well on saturday, tossed and turned and finally got up. i did what i remembered of my pre-run preparation on long-run days. i ate a big bowl of oatmeal with copious amounts of cinnamon, and began to scrounge up my paraphernalia. i found my tights, my top made of space age fabric, goretex jacket, gloves and head band - and i even found my belt with the stuff i always carried with me - and man was it heavy. is it really possible that i used to run with loins girded in such fashion? opened the zip and began removing stuff - out came the swiss army knife, the spare car keys, the blister repair kit - still heavy - another pocket - out come the nail clippers, the flash light, the extra batteries and extra bulb, out came the compass, the extra shoe laces, my hear rate monitor - ok, that feels a lot better, grabbed two liter bottles of powerade and off i was to the trail head.

the trail quickly leaves the road and leads into thick forest. i felt like entering another world through what looked like a door - no make this an open and fearsome mouth, ready to chew me into small bits, and if i would be lucky it would dump me back onto the parking lot at the other end looking like a pile of turds.

i am not sure when the fear subsided and i am not sure when the anxiety eased but being among the trees i suddenly felt safe and cozy, they weren't pouncing on me, they were welcoming me back like the old friend they had not see for some time, the trail felt so familiar even though i had been as far away from it as i could have been for ages, there was the slippery bridge over the creek that had been the source of multiple face plants before, the tight turn around the downed tree, crossing the tall-grass prairie section and before i knew it was following the shores of evergreen lake. this was 5 miles, the distance where my usual runs end but i felt strong, exhilaratingly so. i truly enjoyed being out, having conquered my own fears, beating that lazy couch potato bastard into submission and as in the good old days i dedicated the remainder of this run to a celebration of the fact that i was healthy enough to do this. i crossed the road leading to the park center, took a salt cap, some gu and went on to the dunes. the next miles passed in a blur and the only thing i recall were a group of deer crossing the trail up ahead, a mouse or shrew scurrying out of my way ... and there was airport highway, the trail crosses the road bridge over swan creek and again enters the forest on the other side. within a few steps the blaring sounds of speeding cars, the sharp dissonances of an environment spoiled by man, the sirens, flashing lights and neon signs faded and back i was in a world that felt so much more welcoming and home, i was now at 12 miles and to my great surprise none of my gauges were in the red, more salt, more gu, on i went and before i really knew the trail opened to the meadow leading up to the car park at the trail head. the legs felt a bit tired and my watch said that i had been gone for 3:24 - but it sure did not feel like it.

i now know that i am again a runner and i know that experiencing nature while running is an integral part of who i am and what touches my soul. i had been missing this for too long. so, i am back, and be prepared to see posts of the various kinds of trouble that i will get my self into in the near future :-)

stay and run well,

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