This is the first time I think I've ever been away from my parents' house on Christmas.
It is so unbelievably, wonderfully quiet around here. Normally this neighborhood hums at all hours of the day and night, and even at 3 am, the streets are lined with parked cars and there's always drunken kids making noise, or someone running machinery, or sirens going to the latest robbery or the hospital.
Not today. The dorms are all empty, the neighborhood is near deserted, and it's as silent as an area in view of the Interstate ever gets. I was like, "Wow, I can hear the ocean ... oh wait, that's just the highway." But it's a lot quieter than usual -- normally it roars, today it's just a purr. And to crown the glory of this beautiful day, it's sunny. For those of you who don't live in Seattle, let me tell you: we really appreciate our sun here, because we see so little of it.
I could definitely get to like this. I hate the hustle of the Christmas season, but this peacefulness is quite enjoyable. I wish everyone in America celebrated Yom Kippur, then we'd have a day like this in September. I wonder if this is what Shabbat is like in some Israeli neighborhoods. How did they know how important days of rest were before they had engines and machines? (I suppose people who do manual labor all week need a day of rest for their bodies, like people who live in buzzing cities need a day of rest for their minds.)
When I lived in the suburbs, I didn't know how noisy true urban life was, or how important those moments of quiet become. Now I'm learning it.
I'm stuck between visiting the arboretum or a nearby park. I think I'll take my neglected bike out to the arboretum and walk the trails.
Not too sore today (definitely learning). I'm not sure whether it was pacing myself better, stretching at the proper time, longer cooldown, improved muscles, or maybe that yoga routine I found in a magazine and decided to try. Probably all of the above.
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This is awesome, Liz! You'll definitely bust 4:00 for your debut marathon if you stick with your plan -- and you really sound like the type to stick with the plan. (Are you using a published plan, or one you wrote yourself?)
ReplyDeleteI'm just delighted my blog, my book and my strip are doing a tiny bit to inspire and encourage you. This really is the best part of my job. And as far as other good parts of my job: I will indeed be coming to Seattle, to the Seattle Bike Expo in mid-March. I can't wait to see you.
Sweet! I'll mark my calendar for that Bike Expo. Looking forward to meeting you.
ReplyDeleteSo far, I'm approaching training plans similar to the way I cook -- look up a bunch of published versions, use the ones that sound best as guidelines, and mix it up with stuff I feel like doing. Like Frazz, I enjoy variety and I'm not great at sticking to arbitrary rules ;) I have also read dire warnings about overtraining, so playing around with different workouts seems like a good idea.
At the moment I'm flying solo, but after the holidays I will find some running geeks or a club that is newbie-friendly, and maybe join them for drills once a week or so. When I get a job, I'll probably join a gym so I can use a swimming pool and some of those fun machines.