Back at Training

After missing two straight weeks of training to travel to and from Michigan, it felt good to be back yesterday.  My schedule was a down week, calling for just five miles.  But since I have done minimal training - and not running at all since my back pain - I decided I needed more miles.  The Crawlin' Crab race is just six weeks away now - or is it five? - and I am not feeling ready to go 13.1 in any kind of respectable time.

So I set my alarm yesterday for 5:10 - ugh! - so I could be at the park by 6AM.  We had a fairly small turnout and people were doing a huge range of miles, from 4 to 19!  So a lot of folks tended to train alone.  I did a mile or so with some others, then took off on my own route, playing leapfrog a few times with the runners.  I might pass them when I would run, then they would pass me when I switched to a walk.  It was a delightful August morning to be alive and out and about.  My route went up the Boulevard, out Monument Avenue, down to Grove, then out the Westhampton Theater - about 4.5 miles each way.

After seven miles of alternating running and walking, I decided that I had run enough for not having done any for three weeks, and resolved to walk only for the last two miles back.  At that point, I reached a cross street and two people called my name.  There, coming up the street and just yards away, were Lelia and Michal, friends from my very first Team in Training experience - and several since.  It was great to see them, and to walk with them, as they were also heading back to the park at that point.  I see Lelia reasonably often, as we sometimes walk together after work, but had not seen Michal in years.  It felt like true serendipity!  If my pace had been just seconds different, had I stopped longer to take a drink, then I would have passed the street at a different time.  So that was very cool!

After training, several of us went to brunch at Panera, then to a clinic on Rock Tape, which was interesting.  I got some tape put on my knee and back.

I took a few photos along the way.  Our route passed the wonderful Virginia Museum of Fine Arts,

then passed by the Daughters of the Confederacy building and the Virginia Historical Society.

At the intersection of Boulevard and Monument, General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson is forever on the alert.

Monument Avenue is one of the most beautiful streets in Richmond and has so many interesting homes, like this one with the state roof.

The westernmost statue on Monument Avenue is of Arthur Ashe, Richmond native, tennis star, and all-around good guy.  Believe it or not, this statue was so controversial when first erected, but now everyone is pretty calm about it.

As I prepare for the Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon, I felt as if this crab flag were a good omen.

I wanted to take a photo of Lelia, Michal, and me together but they respectfully declined.

I am happy to report that - knock on wood - so far today, my back feels fine after the running.  I do have some leg soreness so will take it easy for a few days and try to get back to my stretching routine.