The littlest birds sing the prettiest songs.
The Be Good Tanyas
I thought of Bobbi Nicol and Scott Sugimoto this morning while running miles and miles through jungle-like humidity. Actually, I was thinking more of their gait than their person. Scott and Bobbi are accomplished ultra-marathoners and I have always been intrigued with their languid stride and their ability to run for hours on end.
Today I attempted to emulate this graceful, near effortless, slow dance. The foot turnover is quick and short, not fast, but certainly not slow. It's not quite a toe strike, but close. I focussed on landing just under my toes on the flat side of my sesamoid (yes, I had to look that one up). My body fell into a comfortable rhythm and my mind wandered peacefully as the miles clicked by. My heart rate was steady and my breathing was comfortable. The occasional unintentional heel-strike broke the tranquility, but I self-corrected within a couple of steps and then all was well once again. Thanks Bobbi and Scott.
I was at the folk festival last night so I had a late start this morning. I left the house at about 11:30 AM and returned at around 3:30 PM. I'm so conditioned to running in the morning that I said "good morning" to about 50 people, and they all replied with a cheery "good-morning" despite it being afternoon! You just have to love Winnipeg.
I booked my hotel in Custer... holy smokes, I think rates in Manhattan are cheaper! I guess they jack up the prices for the ultra weekend. Oh well, it's worth it, small price to pay for achieving my dream of completing an ultra before age 60.... clock's-a-tickin.
The littlest birds sing the prettiest songs.
It's a good day to be alive.
Mike
