Endurance, confidence in movement, the ability to convert oxygen into energy, the ability to convert attention into words while breathing and moving, decline rapidly during an extended injury. Be patient and slowly rebuild. Do not risk re-injury by doing too much too fast! Walk a lot, then run a little. Notice a few small things first, then more gradually. Use this 3 week injury recovery plan to get back on track.
Week 1
Day 1 6xs: walk 4.5 min, run 30 sec || Take a poem you’ve already written and play around with the line breaks.
Day 2 6xs: walk 4 min, run 1 min || Learn to trust your body again by turning parts of it into a poem.
Day 3 6xs: walk 3.5, run 1.5 min || Notice the color orange by the gorge and its absence in poems.
Week 2
Day 4 6xs: walk 3 min, run 2 min || Put those headphones away and listen to the wind.
Day 5 6xs: walk 2.5 min, run 2.5 min || Take note of the towering cottonwood trees, then write about them.
Day 6 6xs: walk 2 min, run 3 min || Notice the changing light, then write about it.
Week 3
Day 7 6xs: walk 1.5 min, run 3.5 min || After your workout, take a walk in the woods and then the words.
Day 8 6xs: walk 1 min, run 4 min || Write a series of haikus about your run.
Day 9 6xs: walk .5 min, run 4.5 min || Write about 3 different moments in your run, using three different poetic forms: haiku, tanka, and lune.
Note: I completed this walk/run recovery plan during October of 2017. Here is a list of days and log entries with my writing activities:
- Day One: October 2, 2017
- Day Two: October 4, 2017
- Day Three: October 6, 2017
- Day Four: October 9, 2017
- Day Five: October 11, 2017
- Day Six: October 13, 2017
- Day Seven: October 16, 2017
- Day Eight: October 19, 2017
- Day Nine: October 22, 2017