Nostalgic Morning

Strangest dream last night.

My coworker Jonesy (an Ironman in the real world) had somehow convinced me to go to the track for a workout with him. It was early morning, before dawn, and we hopped into his hatchback and took off toward our destination. To my surprise Jonesy grabbed a beer out of the back, out of a case that I had apparently given to him, and popped it open. I remember thinking it odd that he would do such a thing in the morning, before a workout. I mentioned it and he shrugged. Apparently he was trying to relax. As we got closer to the track, I realized that we were in a town I'd lived in during my high school years. In fact, we were going to my high school track. Just before arriving we stopped at the local gas station and I got a call from Maia. She was with her roommate, who advised me to be conservative about the track workout. I responded by saying I didn't really think I was going to run. We pulled into the high school parking lot, which was overcrowded with temporary classrooms, the kind used during expansions or rennovations. Then I woke up.

I don't think I ever ran on my high school track. Maybe a couple of times for a gym class or something. The mile perhaps, when I was a freshmen.

This has got me thinking about all kinds of things, such as wondering why I never explored athletics when I was younger (with the exception of brief soccer and swimming stints), outside of skateboarding, if you consider that athletics. I regret this sometimes, but then it's not like I wasn't enjoying myself back then.

It's also got me thinking a lot about running. The plantar fasciitis in my right foot bothers me less and less. I've been less reserved about the way I use it, during walking and such. The morning stiffness has only gotten to me a couple days this week and even those days were not that bad. The reality of a worry-free run is upon me, and it's something to look forward to. Instead of despairing over how much longer this thing will last I'm starting to realize that it'll end in due time. It's been about 9 months which I think is right on for most cases of PF I've heard about. I'm waiting for a few solid pain-free days, and then I'll count a couple weeks out from that. This sounds conservative, but I want to be rid of this for good.

***

This morning I travelled out to my office extra early. The Metro annoys me, as it usually takes me about twice the time it would if I was riding. But I left my bike at work last night when I went to Rockville.

I had intentions of working hard this morning. I did. I shot out to Darnestown on an unplanned route. All familiar roads. When I got to Darnestown Pike I decided to make it an out-and-back as my odometer read 16.5 at that point. It turned out to be an excellent ride, and again I'm appreciating the lower mileage over the last couple weeks. Altogether, 33 miles, 1:49.

I have a long weekend coming up in recognition of Maia's birthday on Tuesday. Thinking of going for a swim tomorrow morning. After that I won't have access to my bike and quite frankly I need a break anyway, so I'll check back in next week.