Sunday, August 28, 2011

Leaden Skies

The phone rang yesterday at 7 a.m. It was John who asked, "Do you still want to do it?"

I looked outside at gray skies and low light but no rain. "Let's do it," I said.

Thirty minutes later we were underway on a seven mile run from Bluemont Park to Shirlington and back on the W&OD Trail under ominous skies and moisture-laden air. Hurricane Irene was offshore to the south somewhere, working her way north.

We did 9:45s going down and ten-somethings on the way back which is slightly uphill. It was the furthest I've run since Army 2009, at which 10-mile race I suffered a debilitating over-use injury to the tendon in my left ankle.

It was a joy to be out there, knocking off the miles, talking with a friend, nodding to passing runners, knowing the whole weekend would be stretching out luxuriously before me when we finished well before 9 a.m.

We threw in a long exhilarating sprint at the end trying to overtake a runner in the distance pushing a running stroller. One of us passed her just before the end, one of us fell just short. Breathing hard, sweating profusely, we exchanged high-fives at the end of our perfect seventy-one minute run under leaden skies.

5 comments:

Joe the Novelist said...

Yesterday morning was a great time for a run. My run wasn't as long as yours though. Hope your injury is getting better.

Danielle in Iowa in Ireland said...

Yay for seven miles! It sounds like you are recovering well!

David said...

Congratulations. What a great place to be: confidence that you can run distances again and feel great afterwards.

Sunshine said...

Appreciating your blog as always. Thanks for writing.
Don will be running the Marine Corps this year, at the request of his new sponsor. We 2 will cheer!
http://myelomahope.blogspot.com/ (See his September 1 entry)

A Plain Observer said...

What a feeling that is Peter! I was able to run 3 miles with friends completing their 20 miler on saturday and running with friends never fell so good.
Glad your injury has healed