What’s a Provencal French Villager To Do?
As much for practical as poetic reasons, this summer I took to daily walking into our “town square” to run errands – the post office, the library, the grocery store, Blockbuster,… -- and maybe a smoothie for the road. I was inspired by watching old VHS tapes of my favorite French films, where all these fit and (eventually) happy characters walked wherever they went. So I began to walk when I could or when I must to, you know, leave less of a carbon footprint. Besides, with everyone else working this summer, there often wasn’t a spare car.
Then I noticed my ankle ached a lot, and then during a Tuesday night hill repeat, the tendon pain grew intense. I stopped running and soon realized I had to also stop walking. In fact, far as I can tell, it was the walking up and down the hills here, coupled with all the running on the same hills, that brought on this latest bout of Achilles tendonitis. It’s been two weeks now, and all this rest, ice and sitting around isn’t working as well as I’d hoped.
Last week I had a chance to do something I never imagined: reunite with people that I worked with at Kodiak College in Alaska, and on my turf. They were in town for a wedding and there we all were, gathered on a San Diego beach 15 years after I’d given my weepy good-byes to a place that's become almost mythic in my memories. My friend Chris and I earlier had gone to lunch and then to the Bodies: An Exhibition show in La Jolla, grateful we’d hit that Cuban restaurant beforehand. The creatively displayed cadavers and diseased organs have a way of taking away your appetite. Those who’ve already seen the traveling show know it gives you a deeper appreciation for what our bodies can do, with the goal being that we’ll take better care of them.
Later, on the beach, I learned my old boss no longer runs. Now, when I worked with him (technically, for him), John would run in all kinds of yucky weather to get his mileage in before, during or after work. I remember on one Anchorage business trip, he was late to dinner. “He’s training for Boston and had to get in 14 miles,” a co-worker explained. It was snowing sideways as she spoke. He also did the Chad Ogden ultra, which ran 43 miles from Chiniak to Kodiak in honor of a kid that once did it for some higher purpose than a prize watch. These days John stays in phenomenal shape by rowing and cycling because of what running’s done to his body.
And now I’m wondering: What’s running doing to me that I can’t even walk without getting injured? It’s time to ponder my future for another day while I row and cycle at the gym.
Then I noticed my ankle ached a lot, and then during a Tuesday night hill repeat, the tendon pain grew intense. I stopped running and soon realized I had to also stop walking. In fact, far as I can tell, it was the walking up and down the hills here, coupled with all the running on the same hills, that brought on this latest bout of Achilles tendonitis. It’s been two weeks now, and all this rest, ice and sitting around isn’t working as well as I’d hoped.
Last week I had a chance to do something I never imagined: reunite with people that I worked with at Kodiak College in Alaska, and on my turf. They were in town for a wedding and there we all were, gathered on a San Diego beach 15 years after I’d given my weepy good-byes to a place that's become almost mythic in my memories. My friend Chris and I earlier had gone to lunch and then to the Bodies: An Exhibition show in La Jolla, grateful we’d hit that Cuban restaurant beforehand. The creatively displayed cadavers and diseased organs have a way of taking away your appetite. Those who’ve already seen the traveling show know it gives you a deeper appreciation for what our bodies can do, with the goal being that we’ll take better care of them.
Later, on the beach, I learned my old boss no longer runs. Now, when I worked with him (technically, for him), John would run in all kinds of yucky weather to get his mileage in before, during or after work. I remember on one Anchorage business trip, he was late to dinner. “He’s training for Boston and had to get in 14 miles,” a co-worker explained. It was snowing sideways as she spoke. He also did the Chad Ogden ultra, which ran 43 miles from Chiniak to Kodiak in honor of a kid that once did it for some higher purpose than a prize watch. These days John stays in phenomenal shape by rowing and cycling because of what running’s done to his body.
And now I’m wondering: What’s running doing to me that I can’t even walk without getting injured? It’s time to ponder my future for another day while I row and cycle at the gym.
