This coming summer Caleb and I will go backpacking at Philmont scout ranch. 10 days of backpacking where we'll cover a minimum of 50 miles, and potentially quite a bit more. I'm very excited....and very out of shape for it. Oh, I'm in pretty good physical shape. I work out every day (except Sunday) and I keep myself pretty fit....but I'm certainly not in the kind of shape I know I'll have to be in to be able to do that kind of backpacking and not feel like I'd like to die at the end of each day. It's a different type of exercise and a different type of shape you need to be in.
So, I've been slowly working my way into the kind of physical shape I know I need to be in. One of the activities I've been doing is running, specifically with the intent of trail-running. I don't get to do it more than once a week, but the rest of the days I spend in training for my Saturday trail runs. Today was a big milestone for me. It sounds silly, but I finally have gotten my legs into enough shape that I was able to run down the mountain. Usually I run up, then walk down; going down is much harder on your legs than going up. Up is more tiring but down is more wear and tear. But, today I ran down and was able to maintain a decent pace (actually, a pretty solid pace) and do it pain free.
So, today I'm grateful that my old, rapidly decaying body still has something left in the tank. I'm also grateful that I've had the wisdom to continue to take things slow and not expect too much. A good day overall.
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