Sunday, April 18, 2010
The phone ringing brought me out of my slumber and to full alertness. It was 8 a.m. – not really early – except for Sunday, a day when I usually slept until about 9 a.m. before having to get ready for church. It was my daughter Savannah, calling from Ohio State to wish me a ‘happy birthday’. Couldn’t be too upset with that.

So…I was awake now and thinking…okay…you’re 55 and you still haven’t done the bike ride you were supposed to do. Total guilt. I swung my old legs out of bed, hit the bathroom and then headed downstairs and out the door to check the weather conditions. The forecast had been for sun and low 50’s, but this was the same forecaster who had said sunny and 49 for yesterday when I’d been driving through snow and a high of 39 degrees. In other words – not terribly reliable.

It was raining and 40. Surprise, surprise. I grabbed the paper and thought about what I should do to celebrate 55 years on planet earth. I figured there was no way it would clear up enough to ride, though I’d hold out for that, but I could run another 55 minutes. Sure…that made sense and I actually wanted to do it.

I was sitting at the breakfast table, reading over the Cavs and Indians’ wins from the day before, when Holly came down the stairs to ask me what I was going to do with the day.

“Ride – I hope.”

“How long will that take you?”

“Oh…around three hours,” I said.

She walked out and made a call. When she returned she said, “I’m going to ruin a surprise for you. Savannah is on her way from Columbus to be here for your birthday party so you can’t ride. You’d be out most of the time she’d be here.”

Perfect. I now had something to blame for not taking a ride in total crap weather. That – and all of my kids would be there on my birthday. I might even pick up an extra present. Oh yeah…I’d get to run, too.

The book ‘Born to Run’ was really starting to have an impact on me. I was once again looking forward to running. I couldn’t wait to get back out in the woods and put into practice some of the things I’d been reading. ‘Take it easy’ was one. ‘If you’re running trails and trying to decide between one step or two to get past a treacherous stretch – take three’ was another. Though it didn’t so say specifically, smiling while running – and really being happy, was another. I wanted the chance to give them all a try. I changed and headed for the park knowing it would be muddy as hell and looking forward to splashing through the slop and gliding through the trees.

I had no concerns about my calf. I was going to run light – less heal/toe running and more ball of my foot and gentle placement instead of the hard slap I normally created with every footfall. I started on a hiking trail that winds and climbs for about a mile and normally has me gasping for breath with absolutely no discomfort. I had chopped my stride and was dancing over and around the roots and rocks that littered the trail. It was just so easy. I had determined ahead that I would run off-trail for at least half of the run, which creates all kinds of interesting challenges…and fun.

It did. I was dodging fallen limbs, darting in between trees and branches, and getting some cool scrapes on my legs – all while seeing no one. This part of the park was mine. I’ve hiked this area extensively, which helps keep you from getting lost and keeps other runners from following suit. That – and you can’t run fast at all, but the workout is better than normal running. Constantly running around and jumping over things was helping my balance, working my core, and strengthening all of the stabilizing muscles of the lower body.

I wove my way through the trees, down a steep descent as I worked my way to the marsh. When I emerged from the woods into a creek feeding the marsh, it was to the sound of a woman on a cell phone. She was talking and looking over the marsh standing on the bridle trail that ended at the marsh. She heard me emerge from the woods and looked shocked to see a human coming from someplace where there was clearly no trail.

“Hi,” I said with a big grin. She looked at me like I was the creature from the marsh and went back to her call. Ahhh…to hell with her.

I didn’t stay there long – her cell phone was messing with my serenity – heading up the bridle trail she’d come down for a short time before again re-entering the woods.

I still felt like I was gliding, not running, over the trail. I was close to the end…and it was still easy. As I emerged from the woods for the final mile, I was actually disappointed I was almost done, which is a great feeling. All too often since I began writing this blog, I couldn’t wait for the workout to be over.

I finished by running past the car and making it a 60-minute effort. Now I was pretty comfortable with myself and my guilt and feeling like some birthday cake and large meal of fatty foods would be okay.

Run duration: 60 minutes.

Training Heart Rate: 140

Calories burned during workout: 1,020.