Run Elegantly Out There

Today is a rest day and normally I would not run on rest days.  I would enjoy some hot java in my comfy pants and catch-up on the weekend news with Good Morning America, take a leisurely shower and head to work.  I also term these as recovery days to let the legs heal from the longer runs over the weekend.  I'm now in my 13th consecutive day of running, with each mile helping someone.  However, I still need those recovery runs to give the legs (and the rest of the body) a rest.  And now, pushing 54, I need that more than ever.  So now, recovery or rest will be in the form of simple, short runs of 2-3 miles.  While I was running today, I thought about simplicity and how an easy run with the purpose of rest and recovery offers the pure joy of movement, an uncluttered mind, and the desire for more simplicity, not only in running but in life.  Trail Runner magazine is doing 31 days or running inspiration on their site for January.  Today's running inspiration was related to simplicity.



How much do we over-complicate things in general?  Some people look at complexity as a feather in their cap.  Sure, solutions are needed to complex problems but that does not mean that the solutions have to be complex.  They should be as simple as possible.  In engineering terms, this is called elegant.  An elegant solution is one that abstracts complexity and presents it as simple.  Running is about as simple as you can get, yet we tend to confuse the the complexity of a goal with the simplicity of reaching that goal.  So, what we must do is run elegantly out there.

Today Day 13: 2 miles; 2014: 81 miles