Thursday, August 18, 2011

La-Z-boy



Do you ever sit down in the evening in your comfortable chair, perhaps the La-Z-boy, pull that handle to prop your feet up into the air then experience the involuntary sigh? I love that sigh.

The other night I was allotted an evening run with no time constraints. Stepping onto the road, I wasn't certain how far I would run but I figured it would be worth giving a long run a shot. The plan was to run a "circle" around town where I could add or subtract neighborhoods as the mood struck me.

I fancy long runs where I can settle into my body and relax through the motion of my legs. I let the bones, joints and muscles work together to oil the gears. I breathe but I don't force the breath.

I scooched my rear-end back into the plush chair and sighed as my feet rose into the air. I linked my fingers together, raised them over my head and cradled it.

Don't get confused. I'm not jumping back and forth in the story here. I was still running at this point. It's just that everytime I thought about relaxing into the run, I had the vision of sitting in a La-Z-boy chair. I'd mentally place my hands behind my head; my feet were in the air; a gentle sigh escaping into the passing breeze. As though running had become as irrisponsible (in the good way) and fun as watching the game or a chick flick on TV while stretched out in a La-Z-boy...only...only better.

This past year when I would cross mile four, I would begin to feel a tightening of my calf muscles and aching in my thighs. The signs of stressing my body to achieve longer distances. Only during this run, I reached down inside and pulled that mental foot-rest handle. I remembered that I was just there to relax and enjoy. My feet never got hot, beaten or swollen. My calves just rolled with it. Thighs? Did I even have thighs? Even better than the chair was that I had an energized runner's high to keep me peppy through the rest of the evening.




I had stretched my arms overhead, linked my fingers and cradled my head as I La-Z-boy'd myself right through five miles.









A shot looking back at the lazy mill race running along South Island park.




3 comments:

  1. I Love this. I think this is going to be my new mantra when I am running. Feeling lousy? I am going to kick back and relax..:)

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