The Road Awaits

This past week, I eased slowly back into running after Zane Grey and yesterday evening, I ran all but about 2 minutes of a quick 10 miles on hilly, technical trails. I’m not 100% recovered from the run in Arizona, but it still felt good to go out on one of my normal running routes and push a little. This morning I drove Olga’s car to the bus stop so it would be there when she got off work this evening. Afterwards, I ran about 3 miles on the road back home in the pre-dawn morning. It was the first time I’ve been on the road since last September and I’ve picked up some nasty form habits from all that trail running. One of the things I immediately noticed was the switch flipped as soon as I began running this morning. It was my mind telling me, “you’re on the road, run!”. It was interesting how I felt some unfamiliar soreness in my legs after the run. I realize, though, that I miss those road runs and it’s time to integrate them back into my schedule in a few weeks. I’m, also, not 100% in regard to my leg and wasn’t going into Zane Grey. It never gave me any problems during the race, but I still cannot fully lock out the leg while standing without pain and I still experience just enough of the random buckling and twinges of the knee when I’m not running to remind me to run within myself. It’s humbling, but I wouldn’t change it because it’s been a great teacher.