Every year as ski season winds down (this event isn’t happening as I write – as much as I sometimes do hope for endless winter!), I have to get back into the habit of running. It hurts, let me tell you. Even though I wouldn’t exactly say that I sit on a couch all winter – I’m out there downhill skiing, backcountry skiing, playing hockey, rock climbing at the gym – getting in the running “habit” is every bit as difficult as getting back in running “shape.”
Ski season generally ends around mid-April, and I can say that now – early June – I am finally in the running habit. I started going out once or twice a week in late March, got out four or five times a week in April, ran a marathon in May, recovered, and now most days I get up feeling mentally and physically prepared for a run that I know I must complete sometime that day. It’s a good mindset!
The same goes for writing. Writing, when you get down to it, is no different than running. It exercises muscles that – after periods of atrophy – need to be worked out a little bit. This spring I have been pitching magazines, writing stories, and doing a daily “10-minute writing drill.” I am also into the second week of an internship at EatingWell magazine (like running, it certainly helps to surround oneself with a bunch of people who eat, think, and do writing all day long!), and I’m getting ready to go to a week-long writers’ workshop on Cape Cod later this month. And, I am happy to report that – different than my running muscles – the writing muscles feel mostly worked out and limber as of June 6th. If only the running came as easily!
No comments:
Post a Comment