The Release of Stress

Friday, February 05, 2016 · Mike Davis

Good morning! Happy Friday! I know I am certainly thrilled that it is nearly time to enjoy a couple days of relaxing and some rest. Kathy is coming to DC for the weekend so that we can watch the Super Bowl together and I am excited to see her. Not all that enthused about the actual Super Bowl but, it will be fun to enjoy it with my wife. Other than the football game, the weekend is pretty wide open and that is always nice. The one benefit of being away from home is there are far less responsibilities to occupy me and that leaves more time for relaxing. I most definitely want to go for a run with Kathy and if all works well we may be able to run on the O&C Canal trail that I chatted about a couple weeks ago. Beyond the game and a run, I really only want to enjoy the blessing of marriage. Yesterday I put on my shoes and decided to run on the base for the first time (the treadmill doesn’t count). I have not ventured around the base at all so I had no idea of where to run or if the base provided enough size to get a decent 60 minute run in without repeating the same roads a few times. As I moved down a sidewalk I went in a direction with the idea of getting some time in before trying turning and heading back from the direction that I had come from. I also knew that the Chesapeake ran along the other side of the base and on my return I would try to run along that. After a couple miles through a rather boring section of the base I turned and made my way in the direction of the Chesapeake and came upon a recreation park area so I ran on a path around some ball fields just trying to get some additional mileage and after running completely around I came upon a paved path that let me along the shore line of the Chesapeake. I found gold! Oh my gosh, I was now running along a paved path that ran along the edge of the Chesapeake and it was absolutely awesome! The path ran nearly a mile and was perfect for running. At that point I was actually back running away from the direction that would take me back toward where I was staying. I was happy to be getting miles in while still knowing that I would be turning around and running back. I followed that path to the end and then reversed my direction staying on the trail. When I got back to where I had gotten on the path I was pleased to see that a path continued along the water for me to continue running along. Looking across the Chesapeake I could now see downtown Washington DC and sites such as the Washington monument. How cool is that! I followed that path to its end and was excited to turn around and run back in the same direction I came from so that I could view all the cool places across the Chesapeake. As I made my way back to where I had gotten on the path the timing was great as I had only 5 minutes left to cover. After finishing that 5 minutes on a sidewalk heading back in the direction of my accommodations, I looked over the Chesapeake and the sun was now setting in clear view. Totally beautiful! Running is such a blessing sometimes and yesterday it was exactly that. I battled this week with my hip and the self-imposed pressure that I put on myself to keep up with my training. Getting out yesterday was not easy and I didn’t know what to expect. My hips were tight and I felt like I labored a bit but, as I discovered the route along the Chesapeake I got myself back mentally to why I run as opposed to “having” to run. Being able to enjoy the surroundings without thinking about having to get miles in was so important at that point in time. Last night my daughter Jennifer and I chatted about the stress of trying to train for a marathon and how neither one of us feels close to 100 percent physically healthy. We both agreed that we cannot sacrifice our joy of running for any particular race. While not wanting to give up on a challenging goal, we both agreed not to try and force our running where it might not should go at this point in time. Quite honestly my arthritic hip may prevent training for distances outside of a half marathon and if that is the case I will be okay with that and be happy that I can run one of those each year. Jennifer is battling a sore knee and that may put this one goal off for another day. Yet she has the wisdom at her young age to not want to sacrifice her long term desire for running, to push through right now. Running should never be a stress but instead it should be a stress releaser. Setting goals and taking on challenges are great but, not at the expense of missing out on the actual joy of running. Time to get along and get this day over with. I hope you have a terrific Friday and an even better weekend! See you on the roads! God Bless! Mike