Tiger and Tony are safe...

I'm back, baby. ~ Bender

Running is fun. I know that 96.2% of the population would beg to differ with that statement but when you couple the simplicity of the sport (really, what is more natural for a human?) with the interaction with nature and add the pure rush of it all - running really kicks ass. There, I said it and I feel better for having said it.

People ask me from time to time, "Don't you get bored?" The answer, for me, is "absolutely not." Sure, I have some runs that are better than others but I have learned that there really is no such thing as a bad run. I always learn something new and experience the thrill of being outside, enjoying the world around me. When one really gets in the zone, the miles just tic off. Truly a feeling to experience at least once in your life.

So lately, I have throttled down my mileage and so far, this has been a positive move. Sure, I'd like to be able to run longer and look wistfully to the high mountains that surround my home - wishing I could be running among the wildflowers in the thin air of Colorado's highest peaks. Driving through Leadville on my journey to Gunnison earlier this week, I definitely felt the pang of sadness that this year will not mark my return to that great event. But that is what next year is for. My focus now is to get healthy. So far, so good.

Since getting stabbed two weeks ago, I have kept the mileage low - upping the tempo a bit - and have increased my mileage to runs of 4+ miles. Today, I'll spin 4.5 and then continue to slowly build back to my "normal" distances. Taking things very slowly right now in order to ensure that I can run pain-free for years to come. Short term sacrifices for long-term gains. Sometimes a tough pill to swallow but definitely the plan I'll follow.

It's all about the big picture. And I can see it.

~stubert.

[ed.] - Also, I still suck at golf.

[ed. ed.] - Two items of clarification:

1) I didn't get stabbed in the prison-yard, Irish pub sense of the word, but by a qualified physician... in the Prison Yard Irish Pub. (If that doesn't exist, you can't have it. I thought of it first.)

2) That last sentence of the final paragraph rhymes! That wasn't even on purpose but you can have that one free of charge. My next post will be entirely written in iambic pentameter.