Big News
My lovely wife of (great God, has it really been that long? I may have to cut back on her meds) years, after three years of steady progress – 30 minutes of fitness a day, every day, and eating good, all day, every day – has pulled the lever, sent a registration to the Hartford Marathon, and is going to go 26.2 this October.
The only question I have is by how much she’s going to beat my marathon PR.
I’m trying to get her to blog about her experience, which is as likely to be as different from mine as night is from day. What I have in passion, she has in sheer will and dedication, so I have no doubt that each and every run in her training plan will get executed.
The upside for me? No more feeling guilty about sleeping in on Saturdays, as she’s using Saturday morning for her long run. Hot dog.
Run
Johnny Klink and I hit the road at lunch again today. The plan was a quick three-ish to the top of the Bulkey Bridge at NAVSTA Newport, but we hit the top of the bridge feeling good, feeling spring, and decided to make a quick loop instead of an out’n’back. Finished up with 4 miles at 8:20, fastest I’ve gone in a long while.
Feet didn’t freeze up on the ride home, which is huge. For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been heeding my dad’s advice (I can remember it from the time I was about 8 and started running with him on) “Run on your toes!” I’m also trying to “chi”, based on what little I know from thumbing through the book at Barnes and Noble, and run circles with my feet. It seems to be working – I’ve been sore in my calves, but haven’t had the terrible morning foot pain in a couple of weeks.
Lost
AND, today was so nice that I had little option but to play two.
On the way home from work, I stopped at Burlingame State Park, just down the road from Susie’s and David’s Shelter Harbor, and did the Yellow Trail on the mountain bike.
It would have been a perfect ride, except for:
- Freakin’ Flat tires – luckily I had (a) spare tube and a pump; and
- About two miles of wrong turn
I suppose that’s not much to complain about. Weather was gorgeous. The loop around the lake’s great, at least running it counter-clockwise. The Northeast section of the trail is somewhat technical – lots of babies’ heads, roots, and more slickrock than Rhode Island, land of sod farms, is supposed to have. All sketchy stuff to do with a front tire that’s rapidly losing air.
Once you get about top-dead-center (North being top), the ride gets sweet for an XC loving guy like me – long stretches of smooth-ish singletrack, swoopy turns, and finally shifting into the big ring and flying, flying, flying! This is why I love the bike.
Prayers
Sorry to end on a downer, but there’s a couple of things to keep in your thoughts. First, Fat Cyclist’s wife is having a terrible battle with breast cancer. I cannot do anything but hope that he and his wife find strength to deal with this, and peace to accept whatever the world has to offer. I’ll quote Elden (I think that’s his name) here, on stress management:
When you’re riding hard, that’s all you can do.When you’re in the red zone, all you can think about is turning the cranks. When you’re riding down technical, exposed, twisty singletrack, that’s all you can pay attention to. Essentially, riding a bicycle can be fully absorbing – a vacation from everything.
Lastly, I am passing thoughts of find hope and peace for some friends to whom I wish I were closer.
How exciting for her! I wish her all the best in the months ahead.
Congrats to Ms. Jank, we’d love to hear her stories!
I read fat cyclist’s post the other day. I just can’t imagine.
awesome, awesome news about mrs. jank. they changed the course this year, and it’s supposed to be a ‘wide, flat, scenic finish’ instead of the hills from previous years.
hey…there’s rumour that flipper is thinking about running mystic this year. thought i’d drop you that info so you could push her towards making a decision. =)
and lastly, my prayers are for fat cyclist’s wife. seems as we start to roll into our 30+ years, we start seeing more and more of this disease around us. the whole ‘wear yellow’ thing isn’t just a fashion statement, it’s a show of solidarity for those out there that need our support and encouragement.
Very cool, Jank, about your wife running in Hartford. I’d like to come down and see her race if I can.
Good call on the ChiRunning but don’t tell Mark. ;)