The 8th Nerve

…are back again. I’ve been running regularly since the beginning of September. About two weeks in, the old feeling I remember from marathon training kicked in. The energy, the old pace, the feeling that I could go forever.

Nothing in particular brought running back. I have no goals, no structure this time. The old resistance- the resistance that needed goals and structure in order to overcome- simply disappeared one day. So now I put on my running clothes and sneakers and just go, typically four miles.

On Saturday I’m doing a Turkey Trot 10K that my friend from work is organizing. Should be fun.

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Nov 14th 2007Running

This is the best time of the year to run. It might be considered chilly when you’re standing still, in the evenings, but not when you run. When you run, it’s perfect. The smell of green cut grass and woodsmoke blend together. The setting sun lights up the hills.

The other day there was a rainbow up from the river. I took the picture from the deck. Rainbows never capture on film very well.

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May 9th 2006Pictures & Running

This was fun. Billie would have won for her age group if she was just two months older!

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Oct 2nd 2005Running

Gosh, I’m tired of getting up everyday and putting on a bra.

I believe that the above sentence can just stand alone on its own merit. I signed up for Leafpeepers again this year, the 5k instead of the half-marathon this time. Currently my training status is: minimal. This evening however I ran at least a 2 and a half miler. As soon as I stepped outside, I could smell fall in the air. There hasn’t been any significant change in the color of leaves yet, despite leaves gathering at the edges of roads. Right now, fall is mostly in the sun and the wind. I can’t wait for October.

Speaking of roads, it occurred to me that at one time it must have been a monumental decision to criss cross the country with wide slabs of concrete, cutting down trees and blowing through mountains. It is amazing to me that if I go outside and put my hand on the road, I do so with the knowledge that it connects continuously with every kind of pavement from here to both oceans.

I wonder if the destruction and blight necessary to create roads caused an uproar and if there were droves of people at one point protesting that dirt pathways and horses were fine the way they were. The landscape was and is forever altered, all to suit an invention of the time, a vehicle that was of certain width and that ran on gasoline. What if people had waited, instead of immediately paving across everything to accommodate early 20th century technology- which would become the prototype for all the vehicles today. The belief that we can just do whatever we want to the earth astounds me.

What if we had demanded modes of transportation that ran exclusively on renewable resources and had minimal impact on the environment? For example- a single rail that could support vehicles that run on magnetic energy and vegetable oil. You never know. There probably could be much safer and cost-effective ways to get around, if we had all waited and thought ahead more carefully. This is humanity’s (i.e. men in power) greatest weakness- preferring the quick and convenient and the profit at the expense of the future.

I can see why there was once a strong drive to conquer and expand in the name of progress, or why the independent American dream was compelling and viable once. But I don’t think it makes any sense anymore, and at this time in history we leave a long trail of consumption and destruction behind us. At this time, there is a dire need for collectivity, connection and balance.

If I think about this too much though, all I really want to do is isolate myself further in the woods of Vermont.

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Sep 19th 2005Running & Vermont