Flat

Down in Norfolk for a conference. Traveling last night kept me all wired – I couldn’t quite get to sleep ’til after midnight. Plus, I wasn’t exactly sure where I was, or what the neighborhood was like, or whatever. So I blew off running this morning in favor of an extra couple of hours of sleep.

One of the nice things about the group I was working with today is that it’s somewhat established, and my role is somewhat limited, so I didn’t have to waste time networking or any crap like that at lunch. Found the base gym and WOW. I was over on the bigwig section of the base, with Commander Fleet Forces Command, NATO, COMNAVSUBFOR – more stars than you can see from most cities at night. The gym was no exception. There was a step aerobics course, the locker room was crowded, spacious, and well-lit. Plus, there were really, really plush towels at the desk. Washed with fabric softener, even, I think.

The run wasn’t much to speak of – 5 miles in right around 40 minutes, flat. There’s still something going on with my stride this week. It’s not the effortless gliding I had last week, but it’s not quite plodding or bashing heels. I’m not particularly worried – there’s no pain involved, even though I’m up in mileage/run and mileage/week. But one of the great things about the RBF is knowing that not every run needs to be spectacular – consistency is the key to improvement.

I’ll likely do another 5 tomorrow in Newport, probably up Burma Road to avoid a couple of really tough hills on the Navy base. Saturday, I will try to sneak in 20 miles or so on the bike, and another running loop around River Road on Sunday.

So that’s about it – I’m writing this on MacJournal while I wait for a plane. I really can’t pimp this guy’s stuff enough – I only fear that he’s going to add features. While bad for business, he’s got a product that’s pretty much perfect as is for what I want it to do. Kind of like a spoon, or a fork. Combine the two to make a spork, and the whole thing becomes less useful than the two things were separately.

It’s going to take six hours to get from Norfolk to Providence, BTW. On a good day, you could probably drive it in 7 or so, taking the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (I like that name) and heading up the eastern shore through Jersey. They’re routing me through Pittsburgh, I kid you not. Bleh. Plus, there’s no WiFi in the Norfolk Airport. Hopefully there’ll be something in Pittsburgh.