Monday, November 10, 2008 (70 minutes)

Some good things happened today. Yesterday evening some muscles along the middle of my back suddenly seized up painfully while I was running, stopping me about half an hour into the run. This morning, those muscles were still stiff and sore enough that I skipped the morning run I had planned with Gustavo and Ian. That's not the good part. The good part is that as I went about my daily activities, they gradually loosened up until I ran 70 minutes without incident this evening.

The next good thing is that I ran 70 minutes, which I hadn't done in several weeks. Also, I felt great doing it.

It was cool, not cold. The ground was damp enough to be soft, but not wet enough to suck the heat from my feet. On one particular north field lap, which I distinctly remember against the backdrop of many others I ran this evening, I leaned gently through the corner where the light from the north entrance to the parking structure briefly illuminates a sandy patch of ground. As the light slipped behind me, the textures under my feet morphed to the soft dirt of the stretch. I ran up close against the fence, watching the solitary patches light from the fields and courts that punctuated the darkness with artificial regularity. The contrast to the dark field isolated me, and welcomed me. The cool hung still and quiet, unprotesting against my thoughtless progress. I was running again.