I Am Strong

Today I felt strong. I spent my entire long run thinking about bodies, about strength, about the incredible way that we acquire it. Last week, I ran a 12 miler. Since I had time and miles to kill, I wandered. In that wandering, I turned onto a trail I had never seen before and scrambled up about 1000 feet of elevation gain somewhere around mile three. I found a cave and a waterfall I had never even heard of. It was magical. It was empowering. And it also destroyed my legs for the rest of the run. I slogged through the remaining miles, questioning my sanity but never the decision to follow my curiosity and trust my strength. I started having some pain in my knee the last half mile and hobbled my way back to the car. No damage done, but a clear sign that it was time to let my body rest.

This week was a recovery week. Lower mileage overall, a mere six miles for my Sunday long run. But Sunday long runs come with extra commute time even if the mileage is short, so up the canyon I went. And the whole way up, all I could think about was how incredible it is that a week ago I was hobbling to the car, how I spent the evening in the tub, how much time I had spent stretching and working out all the aches throughout my body, and today I feel completely fine. Like nothing happened. Strong.

When the time came to turn around, I was ready to go for it. For three miles, and I sprinted down the incline I had just climbed. I tried to keep my body loose, to flow with the land. I'm still learning. Sampa ran with me, surprised but keeping pace. At one point my foot caught a rock and I went down hard enough that the impact popped the lid off my water bottle in my vest. The water poured out, creating a mud puddle for me to land in where the trail had previously been completely dried out. Oh well. I grabbed the lid and kept running. I ran and ran. My lungs ached. I kept running. My scraped hands stung. I kept running. My legs were heavy. I kept running until we hit the very end. And then I stopped and marveled at how much my body is capable of.

I am strong.