Strong Legs
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Climbing/Running In The Earliest\Darkest Hours
Bob Dylan wrote in a song that 'they say the darkest hour is right before the dawn' (Meet Me In The Morning) which has become a mantra of mine as,
first of all, it is a gift to run my old roads in the dark, and, actually as a result of bloggin this blog, I've come to acknowledge a new way of livening up old routes and that is through nighttime running; it gives the path up entirely to the physical self, eliminating the mind's perception of depth, paces, distance, climb and subsequent effort, it removes the runner's classic most notable ability of gauging and reconciling ability with a quick estimation of the demands of the impending climb and throws in the disruptive newness, the formula that for the runner confuses us especially on roads we swear we know inside and out, upside and downside, running in the dark on roads I'm all too familiar with, sucks the familiarity out and inserts what I call a disruptive newness/unfamiliarity in--the lists and falls are unpredictable in intensity and, because the timing is totally off, the climb gets tough FAST- the nagging wife yanks sub-passionately at my quads, the carpenter's burly vice --in a practical way-- pinches the hamstrings, the shoulders cave, the chin tucks--my body curls into the climb unsure of what the climb will end up demanding because it's like I've never been here before and how fast am i running? how do i know? I listen to to my feet and turn down the music to see what information is available to me, but there isn't much, it's raining, and it's 4:15 a.m. and the ambient light cast from my deadening headlamp illuminates only one foot plant in front of me so my field of perspective is incredibly marginal but in contrast I feel inspired by what I don't know and have to rely on what I know I'm capable of doing because I've been here before, it isn't so much that I haven't the ability to be successful--YET, it's the trickery played on the mind calling in reconnaissance beckoning damage control issuing in the mulligan a moment where confidence in what I felt certain about is swallowed up by insecurity, but it's running and when I get confused I listen to the music play and continue to press the alternating foot down
first of all, it is a gift to run my old roads in the dark, and, actually as a result of bloggin this blog, I've come to acknowledge a new way of livening up old routes and that is through nighttime running; it gives the path up entirely to the physical self, eliminating the mind's perception of depth, paces, distance, climb and subsequent effort, it removes the runner's classic most notable ability of gauging and reconciling ability with a quick estimation of the demands of the impending climb and throws in the disruptive newness, the formula that for the runner confuses us especially on roads we swear we know inside and out, upside and downside, running in the dark on roads I'm all too familiar with, sucks the familiarity out and inserts what I call a disruptive newness/unfamiliarity in--the lists and falls are unpredictable in intensity and, because the timing is totally off, the climb gets tough FAST- the nagging wife yanks sub-passionately at my quads, the carpenter's burly vice --in a practical way-- pinches the hamstrings, the shoulders cave, the chin tucks--my body curls into the climb unsure of what the climb will end up demanding because it's like I've never been here before and how fast am i running? how do i know? I listen to to my feet and turn down the music to see what information is available to me, but there isn't much, it's raining, and it's 4:15 a.m. and the ambient light cast from my deadening headlamp illuminates only one foot plant in front of me so my field of perspective is incredibly marginal but in contrast I feel inspired by what I don't know and have to rely on what I know I'm capable of doing because I've been here before, it isn't so much that I haven't the ability to be successful--YET, it's the trickery played on the mind calling in reconnaissance beckoning damage control issuing in the mulligan a moment where confidence in what I felt certain about is swallowed up by insecurity, but it's running and when I get confused I listen to the music play and continue to press the alternating foot down
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