Running Commentary

Christmas around the corner. Lots of rain here. It is cold. Nose-biting cold. But the photo to the left puts the whole Berkeley winter weather thing in perspective. I took this picture about five minutes ago--it's what I see out my window as I sit at the computer. The rose is smooshed up against the glass. Roses love rain, even cold rain, and when rain beats down they get giddy and leggy and happy to bloom. I've had weather luck in my running since CIM--have managed to slip between the raindrops, so to speak, for every run except one, which I used the treadmill for (see my last post). Here's another rain-related image, taken last week as I was logging some early morning miles. Not very wintry by Christmas-carol standards (no building a snowman in this meadow), but lovely nonetheless--a burst of winter color: a cushiony underfoot mosaic for a passing runner to appreciate. Saturday I ran with the Oakland Marathon training group I'm in. I was amazed and pleased to do ten

Not long after completing CIM, I pretty much told the story of my marathon in pictures via Flickr . I've been slammed at work and busy trying to return to an even keel after the emotional highs and lows brought on by the long race and by the season in general. I am so very happy to have run the marathon, even though my time was less than stellar. My feet and calves cramped up toward the end, but I hobbled on in. I was 34th out of 43 in my age group. I'm proud to say that the 1st place runner is my friend, fellow team member, and also the kind person who drove me to Sacramento for the race. She's an inspiration! Recovery has been a challenge. I've gone from feeling euphoric to feeling older than mud and back again to being high. Because I'm a glutton for the agony of distance running, I am training for the Oakland Marathon, which is in late March. Last year I did the Oakland Half Marathon and loved it. Anyway, last Saturday I went on a group training run but only