“Large portions of our lives are plagued by schedules imposed on us by other people. Running offers an escape from that.” Jim Fixx, The Complete Book of Running
Overall, this was a very good running week. My last eight -miler made me feel like I wanted to die but yesterday’s was a different story. Never ceases to amaze me how different I can feel from one day to the next. It’s a good thing to put in the tupperware of my mind so that when the bad days come (and they will, always) I can say “oh, well – just a bad day. Tomorrow will be better”. Maybe a life lesson there, too. Go figure.
The highlight of my run was a mile I did on the local middle school track where I was joined by an older gentleman with a wonderful Australian accent. We’ve seen each other many times in passing and done the traditional runners thumbs up. But today he started an actual conversation.
“I always love seeing you out here – you’re always in such a good humor.”
Awww . . . thanks!! I asked how long he’s been running and he told me 60 years, which means he’s most likely QUITE a bit older than he looks. I told him I was training for my second marathon and he said that was great for now (“you’re still so young” – yeah, I really like this man;) but that as I get older I may want to consider shorter distances to protect my knees. He stopped running at half pace to talk to me and went on his way, but it was a lovely diversion and reminded me that all runners, no matter how long or how well we run, are instant friends because of our love for getting up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday and putting ourselves to the test. It was a wonderful day and not even the 70% humidity brought me down after that (well, maybe a little). Training in TX in the summer has begun!
Which brings me to something I somehow failed to mention – I have ridiculously signed up for The Hottest Half on August 12 (http://www.hottesthalf.com/#!/home) It is a somewhat legendary test of human endurance or perhaps a litmus test for one’s fitness for in-patient psychiatric treatment. My friend Natasha wants to do it, I have to run about that long that weekend anyway, so I figure what the heck. We’ll see. Here’s the link to the Runner’s World article about last year’s race.
Last week of school! I’m looking forward to seeing more of my boys. That feeling should last about a week or whenever my first $200 cart of groceries is gone in 4 days. Happy Running!!