9 and a kingfisher by abby
yesterday was a lovely, amazing day. i woke up to a grey sky and cool temps. i hit the road around 7am feeling great. i got rained on for about half a mile between miles 2 and 3, but i'm not sweet enough to melt, so that's good. the rain actually felt good. it wasn't enough to make me cold, but it was refreshing and cooling and lovely. then, as i came off the bridge on cameron bridge, there was a mama and baby deer in the road. the baby was still in spots and so curious as i ran by. naturally i wanted to bring it home.
i have been basically running the same route from my house, and just adding distance. because we don't have sidewalks, running on the road can be a major undertaking, and because we're in the country, well, it's sort of a double risk since people ignore speed limits, etc. so this route is the safest, and has the least amount of traffic and the most amount of animals. so i ran all the way to highline, which seems really long when you drive it and not as long when you run it. there are a fair amount of hills, though the killer hills will start coming with 10+ miles.
anyway, i turned around at the 4.5 at 45:34, still feeling great. crossing the bridge on the way hope, i spotted a kingfisher sitting on a wire. i don't see kingfishers regularly, so i looked them up in my animal speak book when i got home. the keynote (a synthesis of the bird's energies based on the author's observations and study) for a kingfisher is "new warmth, sunshine, prosperity and love." interesting, since i saw it in the rain. the cycle of power is "winter solstice and season." interesting, since it's still summer (though "wintery" enough that we ended up building a fire :) ). anyway, the kingfisher is "a long-time symbol of peace and prosperity." good. because i need some of both of those. there is an old legend that tells how all kingfishers used to be grey. when noah released it from the ark, it flew toward the sun and the blue sky. as it rose up toward the sun, it was burnt and changed in a brighter new color. kingfishers are different among birds because the females are more colorful than the males. kingfishers prefer northern climates. they will go as far north as possible as long as there is open water for hunting. (north: teaching, abundance, balance, sacred wisdom and knowledge, gentleness, thankfulness, drawing forth inner treasures, empathic intuition, trust, alchemy.the element associated with north is earth: wisdom, patience and prosperity, and being true to yourself, freeing yourself from limitations.) "if a kingfisher has come to you, prepare yourself to dive into something new ... if a kingfisher is around, you won't drown. in fact, you will find that, as a result, you will have a new sunshine and prosperity unfolding within your life." (this is from "animal speak" by ted andrews -- a great book about animal totems and myths and legends and the role of animals in our lives, etc.)
so now i know about kingfishers. i finished the run up feeling as fine as i had when i started, in 1:32:23, which means the second split was 46:48, just over a minute off the first split. 10:12s, about. good. and today i am not at all sore. i wish every run could be as peaceful as yesterday's run ... as relaxing and invigorating all at the same time. i thank and honor the kingfisher, my totem for the day. and i am actually sort of looking forward to the 10.
hey, it's fun to read about running! that part of why this blog is alright, even if it's nerdy/obsessive ... because it's interesting to get another opinion. for me, anyway. i don't know what my next big goal will be after this marathon. i'd love to be done with running, but it seems to keep creeping back into my life. even if i started focusing on triathlons again, there's still running (though admittedly, not as much). a half-ironman would be fun. i was to do one once but had to injury out with a badly sprained ankle. totally different sport, that. i dunno. maybe i'll just keep doing half marathons, all over the country or world. though, climbing mountains is fun too .... what about a multi-day backpacking trip at high elevation? like hiking across rocky mountain national park, or the crazy mountains or something ....
i have been basically running the same route from my house, and just adding distance. because we don't have sidewalks, running on the road can be a major undertaking, and because we're in the country, well, it's sort of a double risk since people ignore speed limits, etc. so this route is the safest, and has the least amount of traffic and the most amount of animals. so i ran all the way to highline, which seems really long when you drive it and not as long when you run it. there are a fair amount of hills, though the killer hills will start coming with 10+ miles.
anyway, i turned around at the 4.5 at 45:34, still feeling great. crossing the bridge on the way hope, i spotted a kingfisher sitting on a wire. i don't see kingfishers regularly, so i looked them up in my animal speak book when i got home. the keynote (a synthesis of the bird's energies based on the author's observations and study) for a kingfisher is "new warmth, sunshine, prosperity and love." interesting, since i saw it in the rain. the cycle of power is "winter solstice and season." interesting, since it's still summer (though "wintery" enough that we ended up building a fire :) ). anyway, the kingfisher is "a long-time symbol of peace and prosperity." good. because i need some of both of those. there is an old legend that tells how all kingfishers used to be grey. when noah released it from the ark, it flew toward the sun and the blue sky. as it rose up toward the sun, it was burnt and changed in a brighter new color. kingfishers are different among birds because the females are more colorful than the males. kingfishers prefer northern climates. they will go as far north as possible as long as there is open water for hunting. (north: teaching, abundance, balance, sacred wisdom and knowledge, gentleness, thankfulness, drawing forth inner treasures, empathic intuition, trust, alchemy.the element associated with north is earth: wisdom, patience and prosperity, and being true to yourself, freeing yourself from limitations.) "if a kingfisher has come to you, prepare yourself to dive into something new ... if a kingfisher is around, you won't drown. in fact, you will find that, as a result, you will have a new sunshine and prosperity unfolding within your life." (this is from "animal speak" by ted andrews -- a great book about animal totems and myths and legends and the role of animals in our lives, etc.)
so now i know about kingfishers. i finished the run up feeling as fine as i had when i started, in 1:32:23, which means the second split was 46:48, just over a minute off the first split. 10:12s, about. good. and today i am not at all sore. i wish every run could be as peaceful as yesterday's run ... as relaxing and invigorating all at the same time. i thank and honor the kingfisher, my totem for the day. and i am actually sort of looking forward to the 10.
hey, it's fun to read about running! that part of why this blog is alright, even if it's nerdy/obsessive ... because it's interesting to get another opinion. for me, anyway. i don't know what my next big goal will be after this marathon. i'd love to be done with running, but it seems to keep creeping back into my life. even if i started focusing on triathlons again, there's still running (though admittedly, not as much). a half-ironman would be fun. i was to do one once but had to injury out with a badly sprained ankle. totally different sport, that. i dunno. maybe i'll just keep doing half marathons, all over the country or world. though, climbing mountains is fun too .... what about a multi-day backpacking trip at high elevation? like hiking across rocky mountain national park, or the crazy mountains or something ....
posted by August at 9:13 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home