Running Strawberries and such...

Just got in from a shorter run…3 miles at an easy 9 minute pace. My calves have been barking at me for the last few weeks, so I’ll probably go in for a massage between now and the weekend. The race is almost here! I’m pretty excited about it. I don’t know that I’ll be able to beat my first time of 2:10:46. Holy crap, how did I do that? The next year was considerably slower due to the onset of my asthma…2:24:13. If I can keep it at or under a 10 minute per mile pace this year, I’ll meet my best time. Or not. Just depends on whether I pass out on the road or manage to keep my feet moving.

They are officially discouraging the use of headphones and portable music devices this year, but have stated that they won’t yank runners off the course for wearing them. Considering that I’ve seen folks running this race dressed up as giant strawberries, I figure my mp3 player won’t cause too much of a fuss, and that’s only if I can get the thing working in time for the race. The first two times I ran, I was adamant that I wanted to explore my mind/body connection, to feel every breath and footstep during the race, to truly experience the grueling challenge of running such a long distance. This year, I just want to hear the theme from Rocky as I roll towards the finish line. And Cameo’s ‘Word Up’ at some point along the course, just to make me smile instead of holding that runner’s scowl that I’m so prone to wearing. By the way, my bib number is 22999, in case you want to track my progress.

In other news, I surprised my wife yesterday by cleaning out the clutter in our bedroom. It still needs some work, but I’m pleased with the progress I made in there. She got home with our monkey well after dark, and I guessed correctly that she’d have plopped down on the couch with him to recover from the day without ever going back to the bedroom. So during one of our phone conversations, I casually asked her to go and pick up a set of spare keys that I had left in there…she was thrilled! Ah, happy day.

I’ll be heading out to Florida to train with my Sifu, Art D’Agostino at the end of the month. I’m looking forward to it, since I need some work on a few things, and since our meetings always leave me energized and ready to implement some new technique at our school. The day I get back, I also have a lacrosse game, so I’ll basically go straight from the plane to the field. I’ve been waiting for our season to start ever since the playoffs ended last spring, so look out!

Have a happy day, all.