Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Renaissance, Day 2



The Run: Campus Loop
The Mileage: 5.2

Ah, runner's hangover. How I missed thee.

It's not as bad as it could have been. One of the more useful skills I've retained from high school is the post-workout process of cooling/stretching/draining/soaking to release toxins from the muscles and reduce next-day soreness. Still, though, I'm a heck of a lot sorer than I was on Monday.

And what a beautiful feeling it is.

I wrote an essay on this some years ago. I'm sure I posted it somewhere--facebook maybe. It talked about the odd phobia people have of tiredness. How Starbucks and company thrive on our fierce desire to not be tired. But maybe the problem isn't being tired--maybe it's just that we're being tired in the wrong way.

There is a key difference between code-monkeying-all-day-to-pay-the-mortgage tired and ran-two-miles-further-than-I-thought-I-could tired. The former implies a cage--some sense of inevitability that requires hardship, and the less hardship that can be felt while still creating the necessary product, the better (bring on the mocha!). The latter implies freedom. The latter is not the kind of feeling you mask, it's the kind you revel in, because of what it means. It is the taste of a victory several miles long.

I wonder what 1100 miles worth of victory will taste like.

In the meantime, I shall wear my groans as badges of honor. And pray that I regain the ability to climb into my bunk sometime before tonight.

5 comments:

  1. It's not like I can relate a whole lot since my running days are long gone, but I am loving these entries anyway. :D

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  2. ...this blog didn't last very long, did it.

    ReplyDelete