The Path Back to Normal and the Trails (Part 2)

It was a week later after the Trail Gods had given me the green light to run. I had chosen a municipal park that had a great walking and running path that circled around the soccer and lacrosse fields.  It was completely flat and about a mile and three quarters in distance.  It is not a favorite running route, but it is good for when you are coming back from an injury because it is easy on the legs and as I said, completely flat.  Even though it was early May, the weather was not ideal. It was very cold and there were some snowflakes drifting around.  When I got to the park, I had on my cold weather gear including a knit hat because it was not only cold, but very windy.

I got out of the car and waited for the GPS on my watch to start which sometimes takes a while.  I was very nervous though.  I was not sure I was ready yet, and the cold windy weather did not help my mood either. The watch dinged. It was ready and so I guess so was I.  I started at a slow steady pace, about 3/4 of my normal pace. I felt a little awkward as my breathing was a bit labored, and I felt a bit stiff.  That however, is how I always start for about a mile or so before I settle into a rhythm.  After a mile, I felt better but the wind was howling and if there is one weather thing that annoys me, it is strong winds.  On this route half the time, I would be running against the wind as well.  “Very apropos” I thought. “Running against the wind”, feels like I have been doing that for a month now.

I had signed up for a virtual 5K and actually completed a little over four miles when I called it a day.  I felt good but frankly I knew that I was not right.  That night I even felt a slight tightness in my chest, the same tightness I had felt when I had COVID-19.

The next morning was a totally different day in so many respects.  Firstly, the weather was dramatically warmer.  Even in the morning it was sunny and over fifty degrees.  I only had to run in shorts and a t-shirt, which having run bundled up the day before, felt so light and free.  I eschewed the municipal park and went to my usual county park in which I always ran.  Though this time I would traverse the flatter trails and avoid the steeper climbs.  Not sure if it was the warmer weather, the great feeling of having just a shorts and a t-shirt on, or being back on my old running route after one long month, but I felt much better than I did the day before. My stride felt good and my breathing was easy. As I circled a lake, I saw some women staring into the trees and saw what they saw, a Scarlett Tanager.  It was beautiful.  A message from the Trail Gods. 

I continued on, and on one small descent, my feet felt light and I was gracefully floating over the rocks in the path like I used too.  I came to a fork in the path at mile three. My original plan was to bear right to avoid the longer distance as well as the climb but I veered left for the climb and the distance.  I was feeling great.  I ended up doing 4.5 miles and I know I could have done more but I was still taking my return to fitness slow and steady.

The following Wednesday early in the morning, before 7AM, I decided to run that same trail again.  There were very few people in the park and I felt great. As I circled the lake again, I once again saw the Scarlett Tanager. Though this time it was on the opposite side of the lake.  I stopped to take him in. After all, gifts from the Trail Gods should not be ignored.  I was running easy and free, breathing was steady, and I did not want to stop but I had to work that day.  When I returned to my car in the parking lot and stopped, I felt it!  That high you get after a good workout or run.  It is the feeling that makes you get up and run even on bad weather days.  It is also a sign of fitness. That weekend I extended my runs to seven miles on both days.

Early on the next Friday morning I decided to take another trail run, but this time to Pyramid Mountain County Park, the same place the Trail Gods had spoken to me and I had seen the trail runner.  It was a warm day and once again the park was nearly empty this early.  It was an enjoyable run. So enjoyable, that I decided to add a short loop to my run to see one of the parks most visited landmarks, Tripod Rock.  It is a large multi-ton boulder perched on three smaller rocks. I always like to take it in because it is fascinating to look at, and might be the single reason this park was originally preserved.  I  used to hike this park before it was officially a park and the only trails pretty much lead to it.  After the core of the park was preserved, then additional adjoining lands, such as Turkey Mountain and Kincaid Woods, were added, to make one fabulous park.

I was running free and was surprised that I was almost back to the parking lot.  I was thinking about Tripod Rock and the mystery of it.  There are two schools of thought on it.  One that it was the work of Native American and the other that it is a remnant glacial motion.  I however know the real story.  It is the work of the Trail Gods. They are always communicating with us, we just have to listen more.  Take it from me.