Running lessons: Pain nearly always goes away - eventually

Peace Park late in the afternoon

Today's run was an 8km "steady" run up the river and back. Just the usual. Nothing special. Except that the day was spectacular - blue sky, bright snow, little wind and relatively balmy temperatures that hovered around 0 degrees C.

It was a pretty good run, all things considered. I've been fighting a bug all week and woke up this morning with a nasty sinus headache that I never quite managed to shake. I'm hoping the run today coupled with a good night's sleep will fix what ails me so I feel well enough to running 17 kms with my buddy David tomorrow morning. It's always fun running with him and the route we plan to take is one of my favourites.

Anyway, back to the lesson from today's run. As I arrived at my turnaround point, a pedestrian bridge that crosses the LaHave River about 4 kms from our home, I was reminded that I had some trouble climbing the metal stairs up to the bridge earlier this fall.  As some of you may recall, I whacked my knee on a rock during a trail run back in June causing a minor sprain that left me in quite a bit of discomfort for awhile. It didn't bother me much when I was running - except when I was climbing stairs or running down steep hills - but it hurt like heck when I rolled over in bed, or stood up too quickly after sitting for awhile.

By November, I was beginning to wonder if it would ever heal. Fortunately, I have an excellent chiropractor who assured me it would - eventually. All I needed, he said, was to be patient, ice it frequently, and avoid re-injuring it. Sure enough, it got better and now gives me no trouble at all. In fact, it's hard believe it ever hurt as much as it did.

When you stop to think about it, it's miraculous that the human body is able to heal itself that way. There are limits, of course, but our bodies are capable of recovering from extraordinary injuries and illnesses and, with enough time, physical pain nearly always goes away.

The same is true of emotional and psychological pain - though that can be hard to remember when things seem darkest. Overwhelmed by sadness, fear, anger, or rejection, it's difficult to believe that, just around the bend, the painful thing that for weeks or months - perhaps even years - kept us from appreciating the good things in our lives, will be little more than an echo of a bad dream and we'll barely recall what it felt like to struggle with it.

The other miraculous thing is how much of the healing happens unnoticed. One day something hurts like hell - to the point we can't breathe or think or imagine feeling whole again - and a few months later it doesn't, though we can't quite recall the moment when the pain went away or what made it go. Somehow, when we weren't paying attention, our body, mind or heart simply sat up, brushed itself off, and got on with it.

Thank goodness for that. And thank goodness for all the people in our lives who love and support us until the healing happens and the pain goes away.

Wordless Wednesday

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Running lessons: Rest days are training days too

I didn't go running at all this weekend. Not once. And I didn't even have a good excuse. I wasn't sick or anything. I just didn't feel like running yesterday and all I wanted to do today was sleep. So that's what I did. Yesterday, I filled the day reading and doing chores with Husband and today I slept in until 10:00, went out for brunch, did a bit of shopping, and then napped until supper time. Since supper, I've been hunkered down by the fireplace reading and writing a little and - though it's only 10:30 - I'll be ready to sleep again soon.

Naturally, there's a little voice in my head berating me for my sloth, telling me I'll never run another marathon, that one weekend of missed runs signals the end of my running career - which is utterly ridiculous, of course. As any good coach will tell you, your body needs rest days to repair itself and build muscle, and listening to your body is the best way to avoid over-training and injury. Clearly, what my body needed most this weekend was to rest so, in a very real way, I was "training" and I look forward to feeling the benefits of that training the next time I go running.

Though I only ran a few times last week, I made good progress in terms of pursuing my New Year's resolution to create a more creative life. On Wednesday night, I finally bought the new camera I've been wanting and have already spent considerable time getting familiar with it. I've signed up for a photography course that starts next week and, weather permitting, I plan to go for photo walks a couple of times a week to practice what I learn. I did my first walk along the Halifax waterfront at lunchtime on Friday and really enjoyed trying to see familiar landmarks in new ways. In the end, I didn't take any pictures worth sharing but I was pleased with how well the camera performed - even in my inexperienced hands.  Hopefully, I'll have something to share soon.

I also made good progress on creating some new habits. After weeks of rich holiday foods and too much wine, Husband and I opted for lots of healthy (and delicious !) low-fat vegetarian food in the past week and swore off alcohol for the month of January. We fell off the wagon yesterday and had a couple of glasses of red wine with dinner but we've otherwise abstained since New Year's day and I must say I feel better for it.

The one unhappy thing this weekend was that I put my motorcycle away for the season. I continued to ride her occasionally right up until the weekend before Christmas, but we've had lots of snow lately so there didn't seem to be much point leaving her outside any longer. Husband - bless him - built a ramp so I could store her in the basement until spring. It was a bit of an adventure getting her through the narrow doorway but we managed it. Now I just have to clean and polish her so she's ready to go when the weather warms up again.

Before signing off for the night, a quick word about the image at the top of this post. I caught it with my smartphone from the passenger seat of our car yesterday. Husband and I were both struck by the colour of the building against a sky made grey by an oncoming snow squall. I wish I'd had my pretty new Nikon with me to get a better pic but hopefully the one I got gives at least some sense of how remarkable it was.

So, dear readers, how are you doing with your New Year's resolutions?  Are you missing rich holiday foods?  What are you most looking forward to in 2013?

Wordless Wednesday

New Year's Resolutions: Creating a Creative Life

It's that time of year again - time to think about the year just gone and the one ahead, and to select a Word of the Year to guide me.  Last year, my word was "celebration" and -  judging by all the fun stuff Husband and I did to mark our milestone birthdays, his retirement and other important occasions, it served me well - focusing my attention on the things I most wanted to do in 2012.

For those new to my blog, celebratory activities over the past year have included:

• traveling to Belize with a group of dear friends
• running my first 50k event - the Wascally Wabbit 50k Run
• participating in the Cabot Trail Relay for the first time 
• discovering the joys of trail running
• savouring time at the beach
• traveling to Paris, the UK and the Netherlands 
• (re-)learning to ride a motorcycle
• participating in NaNoWriMo and finishing a draft of my first novel

Needless to say, it's going to be pretty hard to top a year like the last one - but I certainly intend to try.

In thinking about the coming year, I realized that most of what I aspired to do and become could be summarized in one word - creative.  So - ta da! - my word for 2013 is

CREATE!

CREATE intriguing stories, beautiful photographs, and memorable meals
CREATE wonderful memories by traveling to new places, tackling new running challenges, and spending more time with loved ones
CREATE new habits that include eating less meat, drinking less alcohol, running smarter, and reading more
CREATE new connections and opportunities to take both my day job and other activities in new and interesting directions
CREATE a more fearless version of myself by doing things that take me outside my comfort zone (think motorcycling and skydiving!)

As I reread the list, it seems just a tad ambitious but, since this time last year I could never have imagined how far my commitment to celebration would take me, I'm hoping my resolution to create a creative life holds the same magic.

So, dear readers, what are your New Year's Resolutions? Were you able to keep last year's? What do you hope your life will look like when 2014 rolls around?

In closing, a few snapshots from my last long run of 2012 which I completed yesterday afternoon - as inspiration for those who still aren't sure they like running outside in winter. Yes, Janet, I mean you!  :-)

Happy New Year, everyone!

Lake Banook on a cold and blustery but still beautiful afternoon

Something about the light made me take this one

The harbour as the sun began to set

Looking towards the harbour mouth