Active Recovery

I’ve recently emerged from the Wyoming wilderness where my family and I enjoyed some much-needed vacation time. I was admittedly hesitant about this trip for several reasons. For the better part of the last decade, our summer vacation has been spent at a fantastic cabin on a lake in Minnesota. In addition to fishing, I’ve got a favorite coffee shop in town, an awesome little pizza joint that we visit throughout the week, and a bike trail that is perfect for running. Summer vacation always takes place as I get into the heart of my marathon training. The trail has allowed me to keep up with my training schedule, and not skip a beat.

This year, as our trip to Yellowstone approached, I went online searching for running routes and trails. Everything that I read discouraged running due to the presence of bears. The reality of that warning was confirmed when my youngest son and I encountered a Black Bear during one of our hikes as well as when we saw a Grizzly Bear dining alongside one of the roads in the park. While I was able to squeeze in a few oxygen-deprived high altitude runs while in Cheyenne, I figured I’d use my time in the Tetons and Yellowstone as a “recovery” period.

 As I get older, I’m discovering that I don’t bounce back as quickly as I used to. Having been sidelined by a stress-fracture that I believe was brought about by over-training; active recovery has become an increasingly important part of my training regimen. My legs feel fresher, I have less aches and pains, and I feel as though I’m actually getting stronger.

This year’s vacation also provided me with another gift: no phone or internet service. When we hit the road in the family truckster, I made an intentional choice not to check email. I’ve had that intention in the past, but invariably internet access had me peeking at my phone to keep my inbox “in-check,” and to look at Facebook in the same way one puts their tongue in a canker sore to see if it’s still there. But this time, I succeeded. Like my bear-induced active recovery, the absence of WiFi and phone service kept my phone in my bag. For 10 days, I didn’t have to connect my phone to a charger! Instead of status updates, I learned to fly fish and caught some awesome trout. I had meals with my family in which we weren’t connected to handheld devices. We talked and laughed with one another! You wouldn’t know that because no one Instagrammed their Bison Burger. Instead of reading emails, I was able to dive into Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book: The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism. Mornings were spent on a porch in a rocking chair with a cup of coffee and the Psalms. My time unplugged was a tremendous gift that offered great recovery for my mind, spirit, and soul. 

When I finally turned on my phone and had access to the intertubes, I felt no compulsion to re-engage. I left my phone tucked away until I was forced to respond to a text message. Email waited until I got to the office.  I’ve been on Facebook once since returning a few days ago, but only to inform folks where I’d been and that I might not be returning to Facetopia for a while. 

If you need me, just call. Apparently phones can do that!