rest, a miracle elixir, and a low tech hub…

I went out for a short run this morning feeling fast and strong. I have a few explanations for this. First, I haven’t been running so much lately – I’m down to about one or two runs per week for the past few weeks – so I’m “running rested.”

Second, I baked some acorn bread yesterday – actually, it turned out more like a scone. I didn’t have any yeast so it was a dense hunk of powerful fuel. I only used about a heaping tablespoon of the acorn wort in the dough but that stuff is like some sort of super life essence elixir. I could feel the power of the earth coursing through my veins even as I ate it. It’s no wonder Mr. Muir touted acorn bread as one of the finest foods in the world. Well, he once wrote something along those lines anyway…

Third, I’ve been riding the fixed gear around a little more lately. The fixie does two things: it forces you to power through sections where you would normally downshift, bringing in an element of speed/interval training to everyday riding; and it creates constant resistance/feedback to parts of the leg that are normally bypassed, thus developing core leg strength – actually, core whole body strength. Interestingly, when I first started riding the fixie I felt like my legs were being ripped apart and I thought I’d have to stop to avoid serious injury, but I think/hope that was just the early learning curve – teaching those little joints and muscles to kick up their work load after decades of “coasting.”