weekly recap, a bit late

Does writing help fuel running?  If not, I will still enjoy the reminiscing later.

So, January 15-January 21: 32 miles, longest run: 12 miles.

It's been warm and I still have extra weight and not enough sleep, plus all of my runs involve the dog at least, and usually the stroller + kid too.  It's not pretty.  However, my fitness has improved enough that I can jog along with the stroller and dog in 20+ C and still breathe easy, even on some hills.  Not every run is a tempo run anymore.  Therefore, occasionally, I get into the zone.  It's not exactly the supremely effective zone that sports coaches discuss--I'm not enjoying elite performances--but it is a sort of bubble in which I forget I have a body and things to worry about, for the most part.  I simply float along.  I love it.  I've missed it.  It takes considerable effort to remove effort, and so I have been without the zone for almost two years thanks to a decreased fitness.

But now I'm starting to get back into the zone :)

I've read that I should be talking to my son as much as possible in order to facilitate his language development, and narration has become somewhat automatic (I recently noticed myself describing stuff to him even though he was asleep and I knew he was asleep!)...but isn't silence also an important lesson?  Does he feel the zone too, and will he eventually remember it and seek it? 

I'm also trying to get the new dog to appreciate the zone.  The old dog understood it, and there were times where I forgot that I was running and was with a dog for upwards of an hour, and I think the mindbliss was mutual because the dog seemed more relaxed too.  This new dog, however, is a social gadabout, and so she doesn't want to be in an introspective bubble.

Oh, well, we will see.