Running Commentary

I did run in SF last Tuesday, on the eve of the first game of the World Series. South on the Embarcadero, a lively 5-miler along the water, around the Giants' ballpark and back. This morning it's a different kind of run coming up. I just had a bowl of cereal and two short cups of coffee. It's still dark outside--Sunday 6 am, and most of the world is still asleep. Should I head out for my scheduled 18-miler? Or just go for a 20 and the heck with worrying? Instead of sitting in the kitchen, I sit at my desk to eat so that I don't bother Z, who was out late last night doing his docent gig at the Blackhawk Museum Halloween party. Instead of the Sunday paper, right now I read Runners' World . For motivation. To convince myself that I'm not too slow, too old, too undertrained to do this. I go online and use the RW pace calculator . To break five hours in the marathon I really will have to run an 11-minute pace. I can do that without too much pain in a 5K or a 10K, bu...

And if I don't have anything to say, can I make it look as if I do by changing my usual font and writing my non-content in red? Or by adding in some blue sky? I'm often so busy that I feel I don't have the time to write in this blog, even though I have so much that I'd love to record here. Today I do have a little time, but not much in the posting pitcher to pour out. It's like, the old Beatles song I sometimes sing to my sleepy self when I run early in the day : Nothing to say but what a day, how's your boy been Nothing to do, it's up to you I've got nothing to say but it's OK Good morning, good morning Good morning ah Ah, indeed. I had a conversation with my friend R. this morning that touched on ways for a person to follow a meaningful path, a daunting endeavor given the particular strictures a person can feel limited by--finances, relationships, employment, health (you fill in the blank). For myself, I have no pat answers. I feel honor-bound ...

Because I am now in San Francisco for the bulk of my day (of my life!), I am working on ways to fit in a run now and then. Doing this will become more and more of a challenge as the days grow shorter and the light heads south. Yesterday around 6 p.m. I headed out the office door for a 5-miler. I don't know why my legs felt like lead for the first 2 miles, but they did. I was heading north, into the wind, which probably didn't help. I took this from the end of the pier. I felt like a running tourist--or maybe just a running fool. I ran up The Embarcadero to the end, out the SF Municipal Pier and back, and then up the hill on the path that leads to Fort Mason. This was taken after I crested the hill. I ran around the grassy area before heading back down. A couple of years ago when I did this route I had to stop on the hilltop and rest! Two years ago, when I ran this route fairly frequently, it seemed harder. For some reason the hill seemed much less ferocious last night than I...

First, for you, flowers for reading my blog. Next, a report form day three of my full-time working life. Briefly: It's OK! I made it to the track last night just as if I'd spent only four hours at the office, not eight. I've gotten out on my lunch hour two days out of three to climb a few steps. Haven't gone all the way up to Coit Tower yet--hence the title of this post. Tomorrow I'm going to get out of the house early and either go to the gym or go for a run in an effort to start feeling like I'll be able to get a full ration of a.m. workouts in during the coming winter. Here, a report of a different kind: My injured pinkie doesn't hurt but is still bound to its neighboring finger in hopes it will straighten up and type right (typewrite?). I tell you, my brain is dictating faster than my fingers can dream of typing right now, and it is frustrating. Finally, a heart to you for bearing with me. (This photo doesn't have much to do with running, but I like ...

Wouldn't you know that the first real rain of the season would come today, long-run day for me as I ramp up for CIM , which seems to be approaching at a rate of speed that would alarm even Einstein, who contended (and proved, after a fashion, I believe) that time doesn't always pass at the same rate--it's a bit like silly putty in its malleability. Anyway, rain it did. It wasn't raining when I headed out the door around 8:30 am, but it sure was by the time I came back, well over two hours later. Last weekend I ran 12 miles on a hot Saturday and was discouraged by how difficult it was. This week my goal was to do 14--and I ended up doing 15 and not feeling too bad. I added on the extra mile courtesy of my runner friend Mac, whom I encountered out at the Richmond end of the Ohlone Greenway . He asked me if I'd ever run through the tunnel on the path's extension "over there," and he pointed across busy San Pablo Avenue. At this point I had done some add-o...