Donning the ears for a forest jaunt

There were no posts during the weekend as I was oot and aboot, running around in a forest with pointy ears and pretty clothes. That is, I was at a live (action) roleplaying game in the forest outside... well, wherever. This caused a perhaps unexpected amount of physical exertion. Why, you might ask, you were just out playing like a kid, which proper grownups don't, and pretending to be an elf? To which I'll just answer, well, whatever you say, dear. I had to bring a proper canvas tent, a small pyramid-shaped one which have served me well for many years, and the pole for that. Arrows, a bow, a big military medical duvet, a cloak, clothes in abundance (I did enough freezing when I first started running about in the forest ten years ago to have learned my lesson), things for eating and staying clean, shoes, accessories... etcetera. All in all, it is quite heavy and quite unwieldy. All to be able to keep the appearance up of being a travelling elf. My companion on this jaunt carried the food, since I had the tent, to even it out a little. Now, last Thursday, it seemed like a perfectly sound idea to drive myself hard when doing jabs, crosses and uppercuts. The next day, having to carry around a lot of heavy luggage, it seemed less so. So my arm- and back-muscles are quite happily exercised. Why I mention this, one of my favourite pastimes here, is because I am seldom stationary for long during a larp. Especially not as this character, who is a wood-elf (think Legolas, if you are a beginner in these matters). So me and my friend ran whenever we didn't necessarily have to walk or sneak, and of course we ran barefoot style. It looks light and effortless, and it is far less risky when running on wet, uneven ground with lots of roots sticking out. I am not certain how we managed to never trip or fall, and even though we each slipped once or twice, no one was there to see us. And we didn't just run effortlessly and quickly, but quietly, too. We're still a bit confused as to how we made it, but, that is the magic of larping kicking in sometimes. On paths or off them, didn't matter. And we preferred the forest to taking the road, even if we did at times have to cross it. Sneaking in that forest required its muscular strength, too, since it is by necessity something one has to do quietly and with full bodily control. If you feel a branch about to snap under your foot, you need to know how to balance, on that foot or the other, or help out with a hand, to avoid it. And this forest was not a good forest, it was a so-called "cared-for" forest, that is, one that is with regular intervals invaded by big machinery and the ground ripped up and has a lot of old branches lying around making it look very messy - and hard to walk in. And homogenous regarding the species of trees. But enough about that. So, despite not going for a "proper" run or any such thing, I certainly did a fair share of exercise over those three days. And that is an important thing to remember - even everyday things, or hobby things, can be seen as exercising your body. Not necessarily strengthening it, but keeping it strong, and using what you have already got, and, being a reason for building more so that you can use it. Running in the forest is always a joy, too. Next up is a post on motivation. Have you got any particular thing you do which you consider an informal part of your training regime, such as always walking in stairs instead of taking the elevators?

Forest jaunt with nice company

I have found that, since a few years, the worst of my muscle pains comes not the day after, but about one and a half day after. However, this time it was because I forgot to shower in cold water right after iaido. That helps to get the blood to carry away the leftovers from the muscles, which helps to avoid muscle pains.

Today, thus, was consequently a day of feeling a bit stiff and rather pleased with myself that I did. Eating got a bit jumbled, with breakfast being lunch; that is, late, and dinner therefore came early. After that it was time for a jaunt out in the forest. I had company, who is rather unfit (but working on it; has strength but not yet stamina, since it's not been too long since said person finally got the right cockatil of medicines to combat their asthma), so I was literally jogging in circles a lot of the time, doubling back along forest trails. We started out with the asphalt road before heading up into the quarry and the forest. All in all it was about forty minutes of running, perhaps fifty, with a few minor pauses for walking here or there where the trail was too tricky. Afterwards I did a rather short and easy set of crunches, core, back and shoulder excercises, and then, stretching. And showering in cold water (well, at first, then I had some that was a bit warmer).
It was particularily nice having someone to occasionally chat to, and to help said person keep going and not stopping, as is so easy to do when one despairs of ever getting some kind of constitution back!

My left knee was beginning to act up about thirty minutes into the jaunt, so I walked downhill (it's a rather long and uneven stretch) and took it easy for a couple of minutes, until I could jog on flat ground again. It doesn't hurt very bad, but as I have said - I am going to take it easy for quite a while so as not to sink this ship before it's left port. It's been many many years since I could run fast and far.

As to the blog name, "Fleet feet, pointy ears", it partly has a nice ring to it and of course also stuff behind it. I feel so joyous being able to run again, and I don't run with a thumping motion, but even when running quite slow, I seem to float along, looking quite fleet despite the speed. And, of course, if you look at the famous works of the nowadays well-known John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, the elves there are known for running fast and far and light. They even walk on top of snow - something which caused me great joy when a decade ago I saw the movie version of "The Fellowship of the Ring", that they had incorporated. Note how the character of Legolas runs in those movies - lightly, on the balls of his feet rather than heavily and lumbering on his heels! So, like an elf with pointy ears, I run, and I run best when I am in a forest on a winding path.

Perhaps on Sunday I will tell you a bit more about why I am so careful about starting out slow, and why I couldn't run for so very long. Until then, run easy, run smooth, run careful and run joyful!