13 miles

Yep, just 13 – none of that fancy 13.1 to claim a half marathon baseline. I’ll be honest – it was tough, tough, and I channeled Jeff Galloway for much of the run (I’m hinting at walk breaks here), but I did it.

Backstory – My ma and pa were driving up this way for a summer holiday. The last time we’d discussed schedule, I swear that they mentioned they were leaving Texas on Thursday, and would be in Connecticut on Saturday. So it was all worked out – I’d get home about an hour early on Friday, we’d clean the house, and then Saturday morning, we’d finish the cleaning, Missy would take Jake to a birthday party, and by the time everyone got home, my folks would be pulling into the drive.

So imagine my shock when Missy calls me Friday afternoon and says “Come home right now – your folks are here.”

Anyhow, there was a little bit of stress Friday afternoon, but it worked out well. Grammy and Grandpa Jank took the kids out for supper, Missy and I cleaned the house, and everyone was happy by bedtime.

This morning – good stuff. Everyone eating whole wheat pancakes, and then Melissa headed out to go to the grocery as had been previously planned, and me, my folks, and the boys headed down to Stonington for the farmer’s market (mmmm, local blueberries). We walked out to the lighthouse. The tide was out, and we had a blast climbing on the rocks. Tons of little snails, couple of hermit crabs, and a crazy baby who just wades straight in among the rocks and seaweed, unaware that he’s about to slip, bash out his brains, and get carried away by an ill-tempered sea bass (I try not to be overprotective).

Then, Ma and Pa jump back into the car with the kids, and I strap on the camelback and iPod, and quite literally run from town to town. How cool is that? I mean, crossing town lines is old hat on a bike, but while running? Slick.

As I mentioned, the run ended up being a lot tougher than I’d anticipated. It wasn’t exactly hot today, but it was warmer than the mornings and afternoons I’ve been running lately, and, more importantly, it was wet. I made the first hour without walking, and made the entire 13 in right at 2 hours, which isn’t exactly shabby. Not quite Boston, but Boston will wait for another year – this year finishing is priority.

So I’m happy – I think I’m getting life under control again, training, while not perfect, is at least working.

Two plugs while I’m at it: The first is free music over at Bright Orange Folder. The headman for the band is (or, more accurately was – the band is no more) is David Garza, who has had at least a modicum of success on his own. In any case, I dug this band, Twang Twang Shock-a-boom fiercely my first year at Trinity. Catchy tunes, clever lyrics, and at least one song about a monkey.

The other plug is for Open Source, a new talk show out of WBUR, the NPR station for Boston. Yeah, they tackle some tough topics, but do better than any other show I’ve found on really stressing understanding instead of shouting. Plus, the shows on Emerson and Miles are clear examples of what radio can be. Y’all are all rocking iTunes and the new podcasting feature – drop in this link, and have it delivered to you, time-shifted and high tech.