Choose Strong
For Tim.
The whole week was spent on recovery from the right calf
pain which made the long run miserable last Sunday when I
tried to push for 22 miles but ended up finishing only 13.
The right foot still hurt after years of yoga and barefoot
living. "Maybe it simply doesn't mean to be" I told myself.
It felt like a healthy blow to the ego. "I haven't paid the
dues and shouldn't covet the fruits" I admitted to L.
I planned to pace L and son today at the Pioneer Spirit 50
Miler at the foothills of the Sierra mountains. It was not
long or particularly hilly according to their standards, but
hot. The temperature was expected to hit 100 degrees for
the second half of the race. (L, tough as he was, didn't
finish the run last year.) It reminded me of my 50-mile bike
tours between Beijing and home during my college days,
under the summer sun. I should be able to take the heat.
We humans are fiction believers and I am a serious sucker
for well-crafted names. "Pioneer" reminds me of the Chinese
miners in the Gold Rush. Indeed, 170 years ago, they travelled
on the very same trail between the High Sierras and Sacramento.
Time and circumstances changed but I came to the West no
less a pioneer. How fit would it be for me to run the race!
But no. Not yet at least. The calf pain came in mid-July and
I knew the reason. Recently, toward the end of a long run, I
often lost form, and the right heel occasionally rubbed the
inside of the left ankle and scratched off a piece of skin
the size of a quarter. It happened every Sunday for three
weeks. Just as the previous scab firmed up, came another
long run and I was again left with a bloody ankle. To fix it, I
tried to adjust the right foot landing and the calf muscles
came into play.
OK. I accept. Let's take the long view but not lose heart.
After six days of resting and stretching, I did my routine
six-mile today with 40 Surya Namaskar sequences before
and after. It felt great!
