Arf!

I've been sick as a dog this weekend. It started Thanksgiving morning, and now I'm keeping both Michael and myself up all night with coughing, blowing, sneezing, hacking BLAH!!!

I was actually going to try to run today, but my lungs won't let me.

16 Miles! A little fun. A little lost. Really cold and somewhat sore.

That about sums it up. Walked 3/Ran 1 all the way to Alameda (running through the Posey tube pretty much sucks!), along the beach to Bay Farm Island, around the island and back to Alameda and the bus: http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=88851

Ran into an unanticipated fence in a deserted industrial park just as it was getting dark and had to backtrack and find a way through. That was between Miles 12 and 13 when it was getting cold and a little scary. What else can you do when you're so far from home but press on!

Did not stop for pictures along the way. No time! I wanted to maintain a 13 min/mile pace. But here are some pictures I took almost exactly a year ago when I was walking along the beach in Alameda. Enjoy.

A long walk in the fog...

Getting lost is especially creepy on a foggy night when you can't even read the street signs. Creepy... scary... gooooood...

Breathing the world...

Semi-annual meditation retreat at Santa Sabina again. Last time I was here, I did my first 30 minute run without walking and was elated. Since then, of course, knee and shin problems have slowed me down. Goals have changed. Expectations shifted. One thing's the same: I have to get my training in.

Friday morning up before the first meditation. It's so cold I can see my breath. Also, a few deer. I Walk 3/Run 2 for 45 minutes up and down the hills before going inside to meditate. I mean, sleep. Sleeping, sleeping, sleeping. I must be sleeping off a huge deficit.

Sunday morning, I've planned to get up at 4a.m. and do my 8 miles. Mapped it out before the retreat: http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=87669 But when my watch beeps at 4a.m., I come to my senses. Running in the dark in a place I've never run before (along the San Rafael canal) is just crazy. In a bad way. I go back to sleep and get up just in time for the 7a.m. sitting.

It's during this sitting that the shift happens. Suddenly, I'm wide awake. Suddenly, I know that I will skip breakfast and get my butt outside and do my 8 miles before the next sitting at 10am. And that's what I do. In fact, I'm so pumped up that I Run 3/Walk 2.

A glorious day! I feel as if I am breathing in the whole wide world!

14 Miles today! (But I'll miss my boyfriends.)

For each of the last 50 days, Dean Karnazes has sent me a text message with the results of his daily marathon run. Today, at the New York City Marathon, he successfully completed his North Face Endurance 50, during which he ran 50 marathons in 50 days in all 50 states. His finish time was 3:00:30, which is pretty darned fast, but not fast enough to beat first-timer Lance Armstrong's finish of 2:59:36. Then again, Lance hadn't already run 1,283.8 miles in the previous 49 days, plus he takes steroids, so his time shouldn't count anyway. (Just kidding, Michael!)

So, no more phone messages for me from my boyfriend, Dean. And after Tuesday, no more phone messages from my boyfriends Bill and Al (Clinton and Gore, that is.) Until the next election.

If I'd known Dean was going to finish in 3 hours, I would have tried just a little harder today to complete my 14 mile walk/run in under that. I ran down to Lake Merritt (3.18 miles,) did 3 laps around the lake (3.15 miles each,) and then an additional 1.43 miles to the Lake Merritt BART station. I allowed myself 3.5 hours and finished in 3:02:08. I think the January 7 Disney World Marathon will be doable if I can just maintain my slow but steady pace walking and running and not injure myself again!

So what was it like running around the lake 3 times? After the first time, my legs were tired and I couldn't imagine doing it 2 more times. But I kept going and realized that while my legs never got less tired, they also didn't really get much worse. Also, I had some new kick-ass music on my iPod (Calexico, Okkervil River, KT Tunstall), so I focused on enjoying that and the great weather and ducks and people (a couple of whom I fantasized throwing into the lake, but that's another story) and just kept on moving.

I stretched all the way home on BART. I'll be curious to see if I'm as sore tomorrow as I was after the 1/2 marathon. I'm betting not.