for anyone who has run in (or been to) Lisbon

Running the Coast


poem 6. Lisbon


They began here, Belem,
believing, (they’d discover),
long ago a plank exposed
and every step the wind cooled
was given aloft
to God and Reign. What was
the travelling mind
inspired to abjure?
What palpable whim?

Not all are men
raising the same banners
now. Crowns and medals
appear between breasts,
bridges sink so low
that a slight flick of the jaw
will enable a long indulgent
drink. Only the coarsest of sailors
doesn’t sip an entire life.

I begin here too, aground,
shivering, nothing to unearth
but the Tagus’s tide
and Henry the Navigator
demarking the last of a million
goose bumps. His compass,
pointing freely, so real
in stone because he and the clouds
could never settle these shores.

I begin with a mast and sails
tendered like rain, (sideways).
The wind is a woman with a camera
that cannot be focused,
only my jib-angled torso
moving past restaurants
advertising the “New River”
(and a monument
that doesn’t open until noon).

another sign

splendid autumn day... a few deep gray clouds, a little wind, chance of local shower, yet lots of sun and vitamins needed. easy warm-up and stretching, some strides, pliometrics and main workout:

3 x (2x800, 1 x400) on 4:30 (so decent amount of rest)

5 minutes between sets (lots of rest because the "jogger" needed it, haha :)


set 1 = (3:30, 3:28, 1:33), felt easy
set 2 = (3:26, 3:21, 1:33), still bouncing along
set 3 = (3:10, 2:54, 1:20), felt great, back tightened a bit, last 400 was solid.

wisdom? forethought maybe?

near the top of the long run's last hill a just-past-toddler girl, ignoring her mother's pleas to stay away from the road, asks me, where are you going?

time / zone

long toot around town again, and it almost felt like I was runner... even after 45 minutes there was still a little spring in my step, i was almost in "the" zone, and time did not matter...

0;24:10 -- 5.1k 1:00:00 -- 12.8k 1:17:00 -- 16.1k

windy and more cool than last time. maybe i don't like the heat?

nah.

I remember now...

why I haven't been swimming, since about last December.

After just two workouts -- and I use the term workout so very loosely ;) I can barely raise my left arm above my shoulder... sharp, pointy -- pain!!! I will try one more workout, all swim, drill and / or kick, no pull, as I think that's what is causing it, before I go to physio. Okay maybe two more workouts... then physio.

The good news is that I had a fantastic run session on Sunday morning at the new school, (it's well past the old school where touch football, beer, and doobies were being passed around), had to shimmy the lamppost and climb the fence, then sneak between the trees onto the new-new rubber track... k, i didn't really have to sneak around as I think I have "permission" to use it, but it's true there is a lamppost and a fence that is locked to keep the skateboarders, rollerbladers, dog-walkers, and ne'er-do-well kids from ruining it again.

The goal was to do the first interval very easy, say half-mar pace, the second one 10k pace, and the third somewhere between 5k pace and all out, not sure what all out is these days (except for the first set, meaning the third 1k which was a bit slow so as not to aggravate the b-a-d b-a-k so early in the workout). It was windy, a bit cool, and there was geese and poop all over the field and on parts of the track, the inside lane even, so I guess I ran a bit further than intended:

3 x 1k (4:40, 4:33, 4:18) on 5:30 -- 3mr
3 x 800 (3:40, 3:32, 3:23) on 4:30 -- 3mr
3 x 600 (2:30, 2:21, 2:13) on 3:30 -- 2mr
3 x 400 (1:35, 1:28, 1:24) on 2:30 -- 2mr
3 x 200 (:45, :41, :39) on 1:30

Not bad eh, and with my speed and forcefulness I scared those darn geese away... good circuit training afterwards and thankfully no sharp pointy pains in my lower back.

run long 2day

it was

slower than slow

south wind

hilly hot

noisy

(roads) dusty

uneven

pain?

it beats

the couch with raised feet

positioned pillow

14.2 km in 71 minutes...

once upon time...

oh yeah,

not allowed to reminesce,

once upon a time

not so long ago actually

i couldn't run

more than 20 minutes

without stopping

to stretch

or abandon the route

it beats

the heart

The Manuscript Contents

Harbouring


footprint


Running the Coast

1. Pula
2. Turku
3. Present Island
4. La Grande Motte
5. Barcelona
6. Lisbon
7. Jardim do Mar
8. Philipsburg
9. Toronto
10. Midland
11. Tiny Beaches Road
12. Collingwood
13. Owen Sound
14. Fredericton
15. Quebec
16. The Montreal Rowing Basin
17. Irun
18. Bled
19. Malta Lake, Poznan
20. Panormos
21. Lake Bernard
22. Midland (reprisal)



The Sky Harbours

Pearson
Ferihegy
Schipol
CDG
Heathrow (holding)
YFC
YUL

St. John’s
Lisbon
Funchal
Pescara
Skiathos
Pearson (reprise)
Phoenix


Salvage

1. The Wye River (2004)
2. Victoria Harbour and Port McNicoll (2004)
3. Collingwood (2003)
4. Owen Sound (2003)
5. The Bad River and The Fingerboard Islands (2003)
6. Toronto Harbour Looking West (2005)
7. Toronto Harbour Looking East (2005)
8. Halifax (2006)
9. Salvage, 20 / 25 (2000)
10. Water Street, St. John’s (2003)
11. Sept-Isles (2005)
12. Montreal from above The Lafontaine Tunnel (2005)
13. New York (2005)
14. Manhattan at Night (2006)
15. Bermuda (2005)
16. Vancouver (2006)
17. The Wye River (1972)



From a Bridge

Holiday (and everyone is gone)
what John told us at a restaurant in Santana
Concession Fog
Seen Once
Perfect View
Ride
Returning to Port
Along a North Shore Fairway, Hamilton Harbour
** * h * **
The Barber from Palermo talks about Running



ambition

back for real... my back is real

Spent some time on another space. Now back, just in time for autumn training. A half-marathon perhaps or some race in Europe. As for the lower back, it is still the same, neither good nor bad, but better when I do my exercises twice or three times daily.

Next post is poetry. Tonight is a long run.