july 3/RUN

3.5 miles
2 trails
75 degrees

Crowded on the upper trail. Lots of bikers, runners, walker, often in pairs or packs. Running on a shared part of the trail, moving over to give an approaching runner some room, a passing biker called out repeatedly, “you’re fine. you’re fine.” At first I thought he meant I didn’t need to worry about running into him, but then I wondered, was that his way of saying, “stay where you are, you’re fine there, don’t move over anymore?” Descending the 4 stone steps to the start of the Winchell Trail, I heard a bullhorn call out, “Women’s quads start in 4 minutes.” “Yes!”–I called out. A rowing race! I heard the start, but couldn’t see any rowers through the thick trees. I thought I heard some sloshing as I ran north and imagined it was the racing rowers below me. Maybe they weren’t, but in my world, they were. Kept on the Winchell Trail past 38th, onto the dirt leading to the Oak Savanna. Ran past the ravine, over the metal grate, up the gravel. Thought: running up a somewhat steep, loose gravel hill is the worst! Greeted an older jogger, doing a half walk, half run–“Good morning!” He greeted me back then wished me a happy fourth. “You too!” A good run. Nice to be out with other people, early-ish on a Saturday morning.

Last night, walking Delia the dog with FWA, my kneecap slipped out of place. I wasn’t doing anything strange–no turns, or curbs, or quick stops then starts. I stopped, slid it back in place, and we kept walking. It felt a little sore, so I iced it. No big deal. It is still unsettling to have no warning, just a sudden slip, a sharp pain, a strange feeling that something isn’t quite right. But, it’s also not strange, but familiar, no big deal. The capacity of the human body/mind to adapt and adjust always amazes me!