Week One

Week one of preseason training is almost complete.  There has been plenty of pool running, strength training, and road running.  My body hurts all of the time, and I am loving every minute.  Tomorrow will be my long awaited first run back on trails.  I say that like it has been months, and even though it feels like it, I've only been away for a week.

But it won't be the same as my central Florida runs.  I won't be able to stop and explore, cross rivers, or run for as long as I see fit.  I will have a set time, a set distance, and a set group of people to run with.  Don't get me wrong, I am running with the best people I know, but there is something so invigorating about going at the trails alone. 

However rough of a transition this may be for me (it is every year), fall is the season to be calculated and precise, to run with  determination and train for a single race.  Spontaneity is for winter break and summer, and the rest of my life as a runner.  I am eager to see how far I can go this season.  Just a few weeks shy of a year ago, I was not able to run.  I lost nine months of good running.  Now, I appreciate the motion much more.  That is why I can't hold back, not for my final season.  I won't waste it.