Went running with Jake this evening, after drill and after mowing the yard (How can I resist Melissa when she looks up at me with the big brown eyes and says “You’re mowing the yard, right?”). One mile in 13 minutes.
But, it was by far the best mile of the weekend.
And one of the best post-runs ever, lying in the freshly cut grass, looking up into a perfect blue sky, and watching the thin stratonimbus clouds roll by.
There’s finally a pouch for the Nike+iPod sensor, so says Macsimum News. I, honestly, am surprised and ashamed at the “new economy” for waiting this long to bring this to market.
Mostly, I’m wishing I’d stopped at JoAnn’s Fabrics and bought a bunch of rip-stop nylon and cobbled together one on my own…
So, rather than continue to sit around and feel sorry for myself, I did, in fact, run yesterday afternoon.
And, y’know what? It felt good
Not wanting to be, y’know, too ambitious after a week off, I set the Nike+iPod for 40 minutes, decided to run down River Road instead of the base perimeter, and set off.
The day was warm, but not painfully so. The birds sang, the breeze blew, and the sun beat down on my ears. ANd suddenly all that other crap didn’t matter. I was running.
4.6 miles in 40 minutes. Not fast, not slow, not far, not short. Just right.
Monday – Didn’t run, ’cause it was an “off” day on the schedule. Plus, I broke my iPod working on the house, and was waiting for a new one (If you’ve got $130 to spare, go to the Apple Store online scroll down the page, and click on the big red tag on the right hand side where they sell refurbished stuff – 1 GB Nano is $109, 2 GB Nano is $129, 4 GB Nano is $169) so I could keep using the cool chip.
Tuesday – Didn’t run – Not on the schedule, plus it was HOT
Wednesday – Didn’t wake up early enough to run before the wife left for Hartford. Spent the day playing with the kids – Beach in the morning (Watch Hill, if you’re keeping track. Man, was that nice – 65 degree water keeps a nice, cool breeze over the sand. We walked out to the ruins of the WWI fort at the entrance to Fischer’s Island Sound and back); fishing in the evening, 3 hour nap in between. Missy had book club Wednesday night – Whole day with the boys! Can’t be beat. They were angels the whole day, too, which shocked me…
Thursday – Picked up some sort of stomach bug. Just feeling all gassy. POwer went out about 7 PM as a cold front rolled through. Absolutely worse things than spending an evening hanging out on the deck with the wife in the cool, wet evening with all of the bugs knocked out of the air.
Friday – No power yet. Went to buy ice before work instead of running. Still feeling ill in the tummy.
Today – Drilling. Power came on late last night. May run this afternoon, but don’t want to push it – the tummy is still kind of sensitive, and I haven’t eaten anything yet.
 So, there it is – a week down the tubes. New Haven is going to stink.
I’m not exactly down about training – I actually have been really, really enjoying the run this year. But, on the flip side, I haven’t been nearly as ambitious as I was last year, and it kind of shows.
BUt, July was almost 75 miles for the month, which was better than I would have thought without actually checking the logs.
THis is when I tell myself that it’s all coming together according to plan – get just a little bit rolled into my lifestyle while stepping up performance at work. Next step is to get the eating under control – weight’s been pretty static at 168 all year, this winter I intend to drop poundage. Next summer is when I start thinking great things about fitness – faster, longer, farther.
But I’m green reading about other’s big races, and marathon season is going to really, really rase the green monster of envy’s head. Not that I don’t want great things for the RBF. I just miss the whole aspect of “Look at me! Look at me!”
Floyd’s backup was positive – in the eyes of the WADA, UCI, etc, he’s a doper. I’m numb by this point – how could he be so dumb? At this point, I’d still like to believe him, but…
My comment the other day wasn’t necessarily to condone doping – I think it’s a terrible cheat against Sport (“Sport” being the whole idea that it’s good, in general, to, on a level playing field, go beat the snot out of each other for a while, then trundle off afterwards, shake hands, and all go have a tasty beverage and maybe something off of the grill)
But, sadly, I think I’m in the minority. Not in the minority of folks who read this measly blog, but in the minority of people worldwide.
Which is why I’m in favor of opening up leagues for dopers. If there are folks (and trust me, boys and girls, there are) who want to see “athletes” hopped up on goofballs doing big things, and there are folks who are willing to put their health at risk, so be it.
I just won’t watch.
But it’d be nice to be able to put them off in their own category, so the rest of us can watch actual human achievement.
From the Guardian:
If sports fans really want to see achievement that they can relate to, perhaps athletes should be restricted to diets of pizza and beer, and be required to have 40-hour-a-week desk jobs. In the first half of the 20th Century, Tour de France cyclists used to puff cigarettes on the go. How’s that for a physical triumph!
If the greatest possible feat of athleticism is what spectators seek, then that is what they will get (and often are getting). And if that means 250-pound genetically enhanced behemoths dunking on 15-foot basketball rims, then never fear, the science is on the way.
I’ll admit, there’s a certain part of me that does want to see freaks of nature. Kind of like the part of me who loved comic books and superheros. But that’s also the part who ought not be trusted with kids or car keys.
So where do we go? I’m curious to hear what y’all think.