TwentySixPointWhat?

It's been over a week - so here it goes. . . ran 5 miles this morning around town. It was a beautiful morning; nice, cool, brisk - a nice stiff breeze and perfect temps. I've decided to take a different approach since I'm starting to feel the symptoms of a burnout. (one can't stay in permanent training and expect to stay fresh) Left my watch at home and when I felt myself pushing I forced myself to pull back and relax. The goal is to put the fun back into my running and just do it for myself again. I know what I need to do to get the job done so. . . bottom's up!

Stolen from an email to a friend: This past weekend I went home to Erie to run the Erie Marathon. On Friday and Saturday it was kind of cold and rainy; today it was cold, 62 degrees, and rainy so when I woke up yesterday morning at 5:00 AM to dry and warm conditions I didn't know whether to be happy that it would be a dry run or concerned by the tropical temperatures. On Saturday night my nephew, Sammy, had an outdoor football game (in the rain) so after we finally got home, dry, and warm it was at least 9:30/10:00. I made sure that we had pizza for dinner - my absolute favorite pre-, and post- marathon dinner. I think that everyone was surprised that I ate over 1/2 of a medium pizza all by myself. Yesterday morning we set off from my sister's house at 5:30 to pick up my mom and we made it to Presque Isle (the state park where the race was held) around 6:30. It was kind of creepy how warm it was but not oppressively so given the wind coming off the lake. We all made it ove

I've been in a lot of pain for the past couple of days. I have a muscle spasm in my low back right where my spine seems to end and my pelvis starts. It's almost as if my pelvis has shifted and my body isn't happy about it. Don't know what to do about Erie at this point. I'm taking it one day at a time. At least I'm now at home in New York where my 6 year old niece can take care of me.

While bending over to pick up my running shorts this morning, I hurt my back. . . oh baby, I've bent over and I can't get up, errr, stand up straight. shit!

So I laid down the 20 that I'd postponed yesterday. I wasn't too thrilled to be pounding out the miles on my birthday but as with all things I know my responsibilities and well, follow through. I'd arranged to run solo, knowing full well that I needed the time to think and listen to what my body was saying. Erie is next week and no amount of good will from well intentioned running partners 400 miles away will carry me through. My plan was to run Bubba twice and then head towards the cannons twice. I was greeted with an unexpected surprise on my first loop. The VA National Guard was out 'ruckin' and not less than 50 men were marching 4 across as I made my way down the backside of Bubba. With roughly a 1/2 a mile between there and the end of my loop I was sure that I'd only see this spectacle once. But oh no, on my way back up Bubba, they were returning, too; words were exchanged and I wouldn't be surprised if that particular roadway doesn't have

After Hurricane Hanna made her presence known, and after the rains subsided the sun returned and I was able to knock off an easy 5. I meant to do my usual loop around town but decided that I was not going to be afraid anymore and so I took myself to the shell-path and pounded out the miles. The winds were strong, the air was heavy with humidity, but I didn't care. I regained something that was taken from me and there are no words for that.

I've been grossly negligent in keeping up with my training blog. Here I find myself 9 days out from my first marathon of the season, and finally updating. I can't help but wonder just what the hell am I thinking to be running marathon with only two long runs worthy to note. 18 on Monday and now 20 tomorrow. At least my body is feeling good again and running has once again become pleasurable. On Monday I ran my 18 solo and well, I remembered why I did so well training alone last year. I actually like running long alone; I figure stuff out when I run alone. Time for sleep . . . running long requires lots of rest.