I went for a walk. Active recovery… California…

My day today can be described by these words: fatigue, and lethargy. Just one of those days where there is a lot of stress and a lot of things are not going your way. When I’m stressed, I get fatigued.

Thanks to my passion for running, I’m a very active person, fatigued or not. Today though the feeling of being burned out was overwhelming. Besides, Mondays are my rest days. This past weekend my two runs added to twenty-five files, almost a marathon. So when today’s evening came, I decided nothing active was going to happen — not a short recovery run, not a trip to the gym to do a couple of planks. I mentioned it to my son as we were making dinner in the kitchen.

“That’s wrong,” he said. He is a high school runner. “You rest days should be active recovery. Do something to get your blood flowing.”

Damn! My teenage son is instructing me to do something active! It feels like it should be the other way around!

So I listened to him. I went for a walk. There is a big shopping plaza next to where we live in Irvine. I walked around it and spend twenty minutes in Barnes and Noble. I loved it. It’s been a while since I visited a book store. I would’ve stayed longer but the store was closing at nine. I then walked along a quiet trail where I usually run. It was lovely too. Dark, but there were lanterns all along the way. It was warm, and it was cozy. I smelled California one every step! California’s trails and hills have this very unique scent that’s very, well, Californian! I guess it comes from the evergreen trees or bushes, or maybe some flowers or plants. I know it well — I’ve run thousands of miles in California.

I listened to music in my headphones. My playlist list is very diverse (like California!). I enjoyed Green Day’s angst-filled Jesus of Suburbia and I enjoyed Taylor Swift’s sentimental “Betty”.

Three miles of walking. Of active recovery! of California!

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