Fighting for Footing

I run. I do exercise in other ways, but at the heart of my fitness, I run. I feel fit when I run. I feel refreshed and energized when I run. I feel psychologic release when I run.

At least, usually I feel these things when I run.

After the marathon in January, I had a annoying pain in my right foot. At first, I thought it might have been from an ankle twist early on in the race. However, in consulting with one of my colleagues, we think it is a tendinopathy, likely from some of the long (low grade) inclines...something I was completely unprepared for as a Chicagoan. I took some time off from running, and the pain is mostly gone.

Unfortunately, so is much of my running endurance. I'm not back to square one. I can still do 3-5 miles without problem. My speed is actually quite good. I am having problems pushing up in distance. I know that will improve, even though I am frustrated by it.

The thing that bothers me the most is the loss of the effortlessness and joy. I fully expect that these feelings will return, but I am saddened by their absence. It is hard to look forward to my runs. It is hard to motivate myself to lace on my shoes and go.

This affects the rest of my life, too. When I am not running, I find it hard to remain focused and enthusiastic about the rest of my life. It is also harder to maintain healthy eating.

Running....I miss you. Please come back to me.

The Dark Lord Tastes Like...

It is always tough for reality to live up to expectation. Earlier this year, I had a delightful experience where my expectations were met. Opus One is one of those wines that gets a lot of hype. I had a glass in 1996 and wasn't super impressed. It might have been the state of clarets back then. It was more likely an indictment of how green my palate was. Jumping forward 15 years, we ordered a bottle on a recent cruise. I was truly impressed. It certainly deserves its reputation.

Not so the Dark Lord. This beer has legendary status amongst craft beers. I have heard about it for years. It is available once a year at a festival in Indiana; tickets sell out in five minutes. A colleague of mine offered to pick me up a bottle this year. I was so excited!

Last night we cracked open the Dark Lord. Many words could be used to describe this beer: sweet, syrup, coffee, chocolate, intense, experiential. However, would I describe it as good? Not really. At first I thought it wasn't a style I'm wild about...my phase of liking heavy dark beers ended about five years ago. However, my partner loves dark beers and he disliked Dark Lord even more than I did. It really tastes like they are trying too hard, and their cult-like following does not want to admit that their holy grail of beers, The Dark Lord, tastes like alcoholic YooHoo.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.9