The month of July has been and will continue to be busy. The weather is cooperating. My birthday celebration began on July 3 with an early morning bike ride to Ballard, with Walt, and ended on July 15 with a bike ride to Colman Pool (and a swim in the fabulous outdoor saltwater pool), with Caroline, pour fêter l'après 14 juillet. In between, many fun things I don't have time to write about just now. Including an evening with Gloria Steinem! I don't have time because the fun continues. Caroline, Jacqueline and I plan to ride to Colman Pool today for a swim. My friend Linda arrives from Toronto tomorrow for a four-day stay. Wednesday we're going to see the Cowboy Junkies at the Zoo. Friday we're going to Ellensburg for the Jazz in the Valley Festival. We return on Sunday for a BBQ with my distant cousin Shavaun, who coincidentally used to work with Walt years and years ago.
Sometimes I look out at the sailboats in Puget Sound and miss mine just a little. She is still there, in La Rochelle, and still mine, but not easily accessible for obvious reasons. Like mountain climbing, sailing is a great experience and I am glad to have had both of them in my life so far. But there is so much to do and see in this world, and sailing takes up so much time.
I used to run. After running in a few 10K's, I decided to run a marathon. I was working fulltime and had little time to train. So I followed a 50-mile a week plan for three or four months. Every week, I did a 10-mile run during lunch on Wednesdays. Every weekend, I did a long run, adding a mile each week. On the other days of the week, I did what I could - usually three to five miles. I finished the race in just under three-and-a-half hours and was ecstatic. Up to the day of the race, I had never run more than 20 miles and hadn't even done a half marathon. From 20 miles to the end I was in uncharted territory and it was both fabulous and horrible. I wanted to stop. After completing the marathon, I found that I didn't enjoy running as much. I became acutely aware of the aches and pains I felt in vital places, like my feet and knees. When it got to the point where I only felt good about running when I slowed down to walk, I decided I had had enough. And I had done enough. I had gotten through a marathon. Since then, I have been a dedicated walker. My feet thank me; my knees thank me. In fact, in retrospect and although I am happy to have done a marathon, I would have been better off just walking. I have not undone the damage to my knees, feet and hips, though I no longer feel pain in those places all the time. So I am happy to have finished a marathon, and happier still to know I will never put myself through that again.
