Running Commentary

I had a therapist who one time said to me, "You don't always need to be so tough." My immediate, unthinking response was, "Of course I do!" (That would be me, to your right.) I'm feeling a bit that way now, as if it's imperative for me to dig deep and do more than what feels doable. The marathon is next Sunday, and despite my training efforts I'm feeling woefully unprepared. But when I said to Z I'm considering just doing the half marathon ("just" doing 13.1 miles), he said you know how disappointed you'll be if you only do that. And he's right. I know I can stay on my feet for 26.2 miles, but I also know I'll be mostly dead by the time I finish. My last month of training has not gone at all as I planned. I know, life is what happens while you're busy making plans (no duh). I didn't suffer any big injuries, but was pretty much felled by the juicy cold I came down with about two weeks ago. I struggled to do some milea...

Haven't meant to leave this blog hanging--have just been very busy. I was all set to do a final long run last Friday, but by the time I went to bed Thursday I had a sore throat. Friday there was no question of my setting out for a multi-hour run. Finally did go out yesterday (Sunday), but only (ONLY) for three hours instead of the hoped-for four or five. I finished in reasonable shape, but boy do I feel like crud today. I'm at work for my part-time corporate employer, but the jobs are unaccountably slow in coming--so here I am. The first half of my run yesterday was really lovely despite my being a bit stuffed up. One skill I've perfected as a runner is spitting (that and blowing my nose with my fingers --ewww). That's possibly the only upside of running with a cold: colorful sputum. Oops, sorry. The only nervous-making ailment I came up with (down with?) was that my left hip began to ache somewhere around mile 11 (did about 15 all together). But I was able to stretch i...

Long time no post. Last time I wrote I had just run 16 miles. Ha! That was so-o-o-o easy. Since then I've done 19 and then, today, I did 23. Good grief, I am trashed. Good news: nothing major broke down. The infrastructure seems to be holding. Bad news: I let myself get dehydrated, and by mile 21 both my feet were so cramped up that they would have made potato chips look flat had there been any such chips around (no such luck). I'm sure that when I did manage to jog a block or two before taking a walking break, my mode of locomotion was grotesque enough to have made Herman Munster look graceful. I saw many things of interest (staying in motion for 4 hours and 36 minutes gives a person ample opportunity to see things). Of special note were two lovely large white egrets I admired as they rose in the air from the wetlands out by El Cerrito--I guess they were egrets although they were so big they might have been something else. Note to self: when brain feels a little less like week...