Light Days

Recently I've felt "light". The longer I climb the more I realize that those days are few and far between. As injuries have racked up they've become far fewer in number.

When it does happen though, as fleeting as it may be, it's so nice. Everything feels effortless and previously unenjoyable workouts become fun and easy.

Case in point. I'm a terrible runner. I'm slow, I plod, I shuffle. Anyone who knows me understands that I'm not built for endurance sports.

Since my shoulder injury I've become a consistent but slow runner. I'm good with that. Through the past year though I haven't been able to do both running and climbing at the same time. Whether it's been injuries, job or lack of interest things just haven't lined up until the past month or so.

Over the last few weeks I've been able to get into a routine of sorts. Running and core one day and Hangboard and Climbing the next. It's felt good to be training a bit but up until this past Monday it felt rather terrible. Then on Monday it clicked in. I had a great Hangboard workout on the Moon Board and then felt fantastic climbing that night. Light, snappy, powerful. Something I haven't felt in a long time.

Then the next day I had a great run. Keep in mind that I haven't run longer than 4 miles in a couple of months now, and even then the longest I've ever run was 6.5 last August or September. I started out and figured I'd run a couple miles on the shore of Lake Monona and then turn back. I made it a mini goal to run around the Lake at some point this year.

It felt great though so I just kept going. At a certain point I hit the mindset of feeling like I'd run far enough that it'd be a long ways either way so I finished up and ran around the lake. All 11 miles of it. 4.5 miles further than I've ever ran.

Totally random. Totally unexpected. Oddly fun.

Weeks like this aren't often for me but they're a nice reminder of how good things can be. Motivation and strength come in waves but here's to hoping that everyone is feeling good as spring looks to wrap up.