A wonderful evening run, and a nice way to start the day.

I hadn’t run the entire time on vacation, despite bringing my running clothes and having access to a “fitness center.”  It wasn’t that the one treadmill in the “fitness center” wasn’t good enough – but that the walking I did was.  I (of course) wore my Vibram Five Finger Bikilas – the brand new red ones.  Each day we must have walked at least  5 miles and at the end of the day my calves were sore.  The good news, is that it was a “Good” sore – of a well used calf muscle, and not a “OH MY GOD I AM IN PAIN!!!!” type sore.  Since I am “Starting over” – it seemed logical to me to not put further stress on a well exercised muscle that has been my injury point.  Last Night however, my calves were doing well – so  I took off for an evening run.

I had my phone with me to track the distance, but had the volume down so that I was just enjoying the run. I had a loop in mind that was somewhere between 2.5 and 3 miles, so off I went.  It was AWESOME!!!!  No pain in my muscles, no Achilles tendon pain, no shin splints – it was GREAT.  It was one of those runs that make you look forward to your next run.  This seemed especially remarkable to me as my “Track-record” hasn’t been very good for running in the last month or two.  Usually I would be wheezing and questioning why I had taken so much time off – but not last night!  It was like a cosmic-reward for doing the “right thing” and taking it easy.. (ok, maybe not.. but it is how it felt!)  I was especially pleased that the first two miles were each under 9 minutes!

So, I said it was the sort of run that left you looking forward to the next one, so I decided to get up and do a quick mile on the tread mill.  Now as runners, none of us are very big fans of the Dread-mill, but it was only a mile.  It was boring – but still felt GREAT!!!  Had me up and rearing to go even better than a cup of coffee!  Now mind you, this didn’t get me to give up my cup of coffee.. That would just be silly.

As a complete side note – while I was at the Expo for the Marine Corps Marathon, I got to try out “The Stick.”  This is the most incredible device ever made.  The only reason we didn’t buy one at the expo – was the price was the same as online, so we figured we would save our “vacation” money – and buy it online. My wife and children loved it also.  If you have never used one of these and see the demo booth at an expo – TRY IT!!!!

Greatest. Thing. Ever.

About Robinson

I run, because I am a runner. Having realized that I have always "been a runner" - even when I went years with out running, I am learning how it has integrated itself in all aspects of my life. When I started running in highschool, my perspective on life changed. Funny that I didn't realize how much it had affected it until just recently.