And so last night after work, in the swampy humidity, with poison ivy itching and oozing (where in the hell did that come from) I slogged around the track for some miles. Notice I’m not acknowledging the mile count; they were pure junk miles just to sweat out the work day. Oh and the poison ivy…it’s on my legs, and, well, like any self-respecting 5 year old I itched it like crazy. When salty sweat hits exposed skin…hello…now there’s a litte reward for your foolishness.
So why not just go home after work and have a cocktai to start the July 4th holiday. Threefold answer, 1) missed my normal run time in the AM and 2) don’t you fret your pretty head a cocktail was had and 3) as of 1 July I’ve committed to getting my happy ass back in some sort of running shape. At the very least some consistent mileage and/or committed schedule.
And why you may ask? Well besides the fact that I’m the human trash can for food, and need to equalize calories in and calories expended, it appears there is one more marathon in this body. Ohhh, please tell me more. Yea right, who besides a runner actually says tell me more about your marathon training. Kind of like, please tell me more about your recent trip to Cleveland. (sorry Cleveland)
Well it’s my damn blog I can write whatever I want yup yup yup. So after finally qualifying for Boston (it only took me about 12 years and 3 age ranges) and getting passed the lottery selection, hello 2013 start line. And we all know what happened on that day. I was part of the group that was stopped at the 25 or so mile mark. Saving the full details for another day; the short story is that “my group” is being offered entrance in the 2014 race without having to qualfiy and go through the lottery again. As I have said to anyone who asked, the 2013 race was amazing…until it wasn’t. I ran with such joy, high fiving spectators along the way, having a beer instead of a water at an unofficial “fueling station”, last marathon, what a way to end 30 years of distance running, blah blah blah. The BAA is lovely to offer us this opportunity; the idea of putting together another sequence of 20 milers, ugh, not so much.. But it would be disrespectful to those who suffered in so many ways to do anything but accept the generous offer and honor them with my best effort. That said, the old gal is gonna need a longer training period which takes us back to 1 July.
My thought is to slog through the summer months with some balance between the right thing…consistent running, healthy eating, cross training, a good night’s sleep…and the real me. By the fall, and please do not rush me to September as I adore my summer, I should have some semblance of fitness and start to map out a game plan for the cold months.
Okay we’ve chatted long enough. This morning it’s a double…at least 1 mile swim, swimming, really loving by the way, and some miles with my scratchy oozy kind of gross looking legs.
Happy 4th, and to many who have crossed my path in various ways, thank you thank you thank you for my Independence.