Red Sky at Morning

The buildings looked lit from within but the illumination was actually the mirrored sunrise. It did rain later in the day, so the old sailor's saw held true.

This photo was taken yesterday morning as I ran out the Bay Trail to Emeryville. I logged about 7.5 miles in the fresh and breezy dawn. The time stamp on this photo says 7:15 am--when I took it I was a little less than halfway to the turnaround point. I ran four times this past week--am ramping it up a bit because I realize if I do I can break 900 miles for the year. If I can go over 900.25 miles, 2008 will be the third-highest-mileage year of my long and mystifying running career (mystifying to me, that is--why do I do this!). Here are some sample mileages from my records (which, I estimate, have a margin of error of plus or minus 10%):

1978 = 145 mi. (I was living in Key West. This was my first year; my first run took place March 22 and it lasted about 8 minutes. The distance was likely a half-mile.)

1983 = 823.25 mi. (I had moved to Berkeley by then and was running with the DSE. At the club's annual banquet I received a handsome trophy for running more than 800 miles.)

1997 = 1165.25 (This was my highest annual mileage ever. Z and I did three marathons that year.)

I have down periods where I commiserate with myself over not being a "real" runner. Face it, I've never been featured in Runner's World, I've never run Boston. The only races I've won are fun runs, and in most of these I came in first but also last by virtue of being the only runner in my age group. BUT--when I have these glum periods, I haul out my dear friend my runner's log, which tells me that I run a lot for a nonrunner. As of today, in my 30-year running lifetime I have done the old left-right for some 17,279.75 miles. I don't think that's the total of a not-real runner.

The circumfrence of the Earth at the Equator is 24,902.1 miles. So I only need to run a mere 7,622.35 miles more to achieve my personal version of circumnavigating the globe! I would write more, but I need to sign off and start planning my schedule. Let's see. If I run 20 miles a week, give or take, I can finish up in 7.329 years. Hey, piece of cake. See you on the road!

Have a look at our elaborate Christmas decorations. Union Square, eat your heart out. As my son says, Happy Hannuquanzamas!
My wish for you? May your days be merry and bright, and may your
hamstrings never get tight!