Long, stubborn 2010 Winter hesitantly yielded to 2011 Spring, cool and wet, and on into insistent hot, muggy Summer by June’s end. Happy flora and fauna under months-long just-right-showers and sunshine. The joyful, abundant garden yielding daily basket-loads. New plant experiments singing happily. On tippy-toes, through the tomato stakes, I spy Louise at the other end. And then there was Irene, the end of August Hurricane. She literally sucked Summer from the mountains on her trek, wrecking havoc up the East Coast. The air has dried out and cooled into a proper early Autumn.
Danny’s crew is back, hammering and sawing; him, Keith and David. Occasionally other crafts and delivery trucks appear about our here-to-fore fallow cottage. Louise always needs something to do; some involved project with costs and risks. She applies all her disciplines: artistic, social, business, scheduling, designing, planning. It satisfies her as nothing else. They are enthusiastic, her and Danny. A happy team focused on an exciting dream. Appliances arrive – shower stall, toilet, sink, kitchen stuff – to smiles. “This is going to be so nice, I’m gonna want to move in here” she says. This afternoon we’ll meet a tractor trailer driver down at Lowes parking lot for a delivery.
Racewalking has never been so good. Started free clinics here in Boone last Spring. Just put notices in the paper and on-line, started a group on Facebook. Have had inquiries which developed into three attendees; Susan, Kim and James. James actually comes all the way from Lincolnton, which is 1hr away, down off the mountain. My training with Michael Roth has placed me on another level of fitness and understanding. Previous notions of exercise melted away. I’ve a solid understanding of what it is to be healthy and conditioned. I LOVE what I see in the mirror, also knowing it is contingent only on maintenance through consistence and persistence. Somewhat morbidly, with 65yrs under my belt, and a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel, I wonder how long I may maintain this. Daily routines begin painfully, with joints and muscles eventually sorting themselves out and always feeling really good, once underway. Will that pain eventually win?
Enhanced conditioning allows me to race walk ever more properly. Elite walking is twisting and driving oneself forward efficiently, but un-natural to many of us, and, so, developing muscles and flexibility takes considerable time and effort; with focus and adjustments and help from others. Michael’s astute observations allowed me to face my “limp” – a vestige-favoring of my left foot from a twisted-ankle injury I sustained years ago – and Andrew Smith identified how I pretzel myself into exhaustion, using a video from a recent race. I understood it most important to sequentially heel-plant the leading leg firmly In-Line with the other. Anything worth doing is worth Over Doing, of course, and so I developed an OverStride, crossing one leg and then the other over and over. I was actually changing directions several times a second. It was immediately amazing to me, working with Andrew in Asheville, how comfortable and “easy” a gait was without that business. Now, faster, easier, happier.
Now, armed with enough conditioning and instruction, I’m able to push hip and glute-driven walking to new levels. I’ve pushed hard through pain to develop these rarely-if-ever used muscles. Feels and looks good. The upcoming Season-Ending races will tell the tale.
