Stay of Execution: Morning Walk

Yesterday we got up early and walked fifteen miles. There was a sheen of ice on everything, although the morning temperature was mild. We pulled on our Stabilicers and cleated our way along the ice. We've haven't replaced the little cleats in the Stabilicers since last winter, so they're wearing down, and as a result there was a little slippage at the end of every stride. Not enough to slip or fall down, but enough that our strides were shorter and our leg muscles were doing some unfamiliar work. By about the sixth mile we were tired. The sun came up and started working on the icy coating, but it wasn't all melted until about the seventh mile. I took off my cleats before that, and promptly fell and banged my left knee.

Over the Christmas break, Housemate went to a biofeedback session with a therapist who's been working with her father, who is battling cancer (and, so far, winning). The biofeedback guy told her that in addition to circadian rhythms, we all have something called ultradian rhythms of alertness, that repeat many times during the day. You have about 90 minutes of focus and alertness, and then there's a recovery phase of about 20-30 minutes where you zone out, daydream, get drowsy, or fade away. After that refresh period, your concentration comes back for another 90 minutes or so. It sounds sensible to me, based on my experience. Anyway, he said that "endurance athletes" like us, who are moving for longer periods than the 90 minute energy cycle, have to make up the resting period afterwards. The walk took us four hours (the ice made us really slow, and way more exhausted than we should have been). So I guess that means I have almost an hour's nap coming to me....

This morning's walk was done in darkness and rain. It was light rain, but icy. We didn't go too far -- across the bridge, around the little neighborhood over there, and back. The raindrops blotched up my eyeglasses and I entertained myself by looking at headlights and streetlamps and seeing the kaleidoscope patterns in the raindrops. Just as we were heading home, we looked up and in the cone of light of a streetlamp we could see that the rain had turned to snow. We watched the flakes fall, lighter than raindrops, but melting before they touched the ground. By the time we got home it was rain again.

Verify your Comment

Previewing your Comment

Posted by: |

This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.

Your comment could not be posted. Error type:

Your comment has been posted. Post another comment

The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.

As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.

Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.

Stay of Execution

In which Scheherazade postpones the inevitable with tales of law and life....

About

Archives

Categories

Blogs I Read

Site Meter

2006 Blog Party

Morning Walk

TrackBack

Comments

Verify your Comment

Previewing your Comment

Post a comment