Indicators

14.8.11

Rory and I went for a run today, a month or two since we last ran together. Last time, I got the worst stitch of my life and completed the second half of the course in pain and at a snail's pace and Rory was fine. This time, Rory fell to lie on the ground at both the halfway point and the end because he was cramping up everywhere while I had chugged along smoothly.

As we try to juggle more and more things, it gets harder to monitor everything. "I think I've been lacking in sleep". It's more of a statement to yourself than an excuse to your running partner, the realisation that something is amiss, out of balance, has to be changed.

Doing things like running is a good way of checking up on yourself, finding out where you're at, realising something's stressing you out. You learn about yourself.



As an aside:

When I was about 17 or 18 I saw an old guy running round and round Oatley Park Oval, drowning in his own sweat. I remember thinking, "damn, I never want to be that old and have to struggle just to maintain a semblance to my current self". Alas, as life has gotten steadily more complicated, it has also become more sedentary, and I'm already comparing myself to that time and I already understand the title of Zac Efron's movie "17 Again".



Also, when I run, I actually picture Andy Schleck or Cadel Evans and try to channel their unerring cadence. When I'm in a spot of bother I think of Jens Voigt's determined face or just the smile-grimace Andy makes when he's climbing. I also picture Shaun Tait lumbering in to bowl and Thomas Voeckler's ridiculous swinging motion when he struggles up mountains and laugh at how inefficient their movements are.