I know it's Friday and all and my post should be an ultra inspiring, uplifting post to roll into the weekend but I'm really just not feeling it. Maybe it is because I work on opposite schedules to most normal people and instead of a slow Saturday morning I actually start a week of work tomorrow. My friend, Jillian, always writes a Feel Good Friday post on her blog. In honor of that I tried to curb my really terrible horrible no good run into something positive this morning.
I woke up feeling achy, tired and uninspired. I debated with myself about going running at all, but seeing as I won't have a whole lot of opportunities this coming week, I pushed myself out of my bunk and pulled on my running shorts. I touched my toes and headed down the driveway of the marina. Legs felt heavy, back felt tight, just all around "ugh" feeling. I said to myself "just get in a few miles, I'll do some push ups and sit ups when I get back. Maybe go for a swim later. Stretch it out." I slogged along for my one mile warm up and stopped and stretched. Looking around for inspiration to get through the next couple miles, I gazed out over the channel. The sun was just above Dead Chest and Peter Island and the sky was a cool yellow gray color. The breeze has dropped a little but is still cranking down between the islands, keeping everything nice and cool in the mornings. As I looked back toward the road it hit me. Telephone poles! Nothing beats a good old Fartlek drill when you can't get moving. I would do a mile of poles and turn around to finish with 4 miles total. My intervals were short in 3 speeds. The mile went by quickly and loosened me up quite a bit. While running yesterday I took notice, as I always do, of the trash lining the side of the road. I have been running on the Coast Road in Tortola for the past couple days and, more than other places that I run, it bugs me to see trash right next to the ocean, about to go in to be gobbled up by an unsuspecting turtle and dolphin. I decided to search out a plastic bag, there is always at least one, and fill it as I turned around and jogged back to the boat. There is a one mile stretch between two dumpsters so I would have a place to dump it on my way through. I filled the first ice bag with bottles, cups, straws and other random pieces of daily life. Just when I was running out of room another plastic bag appeared and I continued to fill that one too. I found an empty gallon water jug and some plastic sheeting. I filled both bags, dumped them in the dumpster and headed back to the boat feeling like my little good deed did very little in the grand scheme of things. Those two little bags of trash barely nicked the surface of the amount of junk along the road, hidden in the mangroves and gutters. I have a secret little hope that, though I looked like a crazy bag lady collecting trash and running down the road, someone on their morning commute saw me and think twice about their plastic cup while they are sitting at the beach drinking a pina colada this weekend.
So this isn't the feel good Friday post I was hoping for. I know a few of you are running post baby and struggling through achy yucky runs. The important thing is that we're struggling through with little baby steps that feel insignificant. Because I love parallels I guess I could say the situation with our environment is the same. I have to make myself believe that little baby steps like picking up trash will eventually make some sort of difference. That's my Friday message, it's not a feel good one but a do something to make some good happen. Order your drink without a straw, pick up that trash that you see or bring your coffee cup with you instead of using a take away. Running, the environment, it is all about little steps, take a few this weekend.
These were taken in the harbor in Rovinj, Croatia and of the local dump in Vis. The way they dispose of trash is very similar here in the islands. Pile it up and when it's really big, burn it. No surprise that some of it ends up in the sea.
I woke up feeling achy, tired and uninspired. I debated with myself about going running at all, but seeing as I won't have a whole lot of opportunities this coming week, I pushed myself out of my bunk and pulled on my running shorts. I touched my toes and headed down the driveway of the marina. Legs felt heavy, back felt tight, just all around "ugh" feeling. I said to myself "just get in a few miles, I'll do some push ups and sit ups when I get back. Maybe go for a swim later. Stretch it out." I slogged along for my one mile warm up and stopped and stretched. Looking around for inspiration to get through the next couple miles, I gazed out over the channel. The sun was just above Dead Chest and Peter Island and the sky was a cool yellow gray color. The breeze has dropped a little but is still cranking down between the islands, keeping everything nice and cool in the mornings. As I looked back toward the road it hit me. Telephone poles! Nothing beats a good old Fartlek drill when you can't get moving. I would do a mile of poles and turn around to finish with 4 miles total. My intervals were short in 3 speeds. The mile went by quickly and loosened me up quite a bit. While running yesterday I took notice, as I always do, of the trash lining the side of the road. I have been running on the Coast Road in Tortola for the past couple days and, more than other places that I run, it bugs me to see trash right next to the ocean, about to go in to be gobbled up by an unsuspecting turtle and dolphin. I decided to search out a plastic bag, there is always at least one, and fill it as I turned around and jogged back to the boat. There is a one mile stretch between two dumpsters so I would have a place to dump it on my way through. I filled the first ice bag with bottles, cups, straws and other random pieces of daily life. Just when I was running out of room another plastic bag appeared and I continued to fill that one too. I found an empty gallon water jug and some plastic sheeting. I filled both bags, dumped them in the dumpster and headed back to the boat feeling like my little good deed did very little in the grand scheme of things. Those two little bags of trash barely nicked the surface of the amount of junk along the road, hidden in the mangroves and gutters. I have a secret little hope that, though I looked like a crazy bag lady collecting trash and running down the road, someone on their morning commute saw me and think twice about their plastic cup while they are sitting at the beach drinking a pina colada this weekend.
So this isn't the feel good Friday post I was hoping for. I know a few of you are running post baby and struggling through achy yucky runs. The important thing is that we're struggling through with little baby steps that feel insignificant. Because I love parallels I guess I could say the situation with our environment is the same. I have to make myself believe that little baby steps like picking up trash will eventually make some sort of difference. That's my Friday message, it's not a feel good one but a do something to make some good happen. Order your drink without a straw, pick up that trash that you see or bring your coffee cup with you instead of using a take away. Running, the environment, it is all about little steps, take a few this weekend.
These were taken in the harbor in Rovinj, Croatia and of the local dump in Vis. The way they dispose of trash is very similar here in the islands. Pile it up and when it's really big, burn it. No surprise that some of it ends up in the sea.
sometimes a blah run can leave you feeling better later on in the day. :)
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