THE RUN FOR CHRISTINE
hellraisin'
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5 - 7:23 AM - GOLDEN GATE PARK
3.5 miles. 34:30. 258 miles in total.
I fully wanted to go into maximum overdrive in my training, but I've
been coming home from work at 1 AM every night and there's priorities. These
weekday runs are just to keep your momentum going anyway. Shame I don't have
the time to keep it up. Well, as long as I get my miles in on the weekend,
which I do and I will. Anyway, Howard's recording his 2,000 episode on E!,
and he's got Erica the Gymnast on, and I can distinctly remembering her crying
when Howard spanked her. The reason I bring that up is because that episode
garnered the highest ranking for any show to ever air on E!. And that made
me laugh.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1 - 7:30 AM - GOLDEN GATE PARK
SF HALF MARATHON PRESENTED BY HOME DEPOT
13 miles + 2.5 miles. 2:03:47 + 22:22. 254.5 miles in total.
Funny how Team in Training works: They give you specific directions where
to meet you, but they're always somewhere else when you get there. But I
found them, and together we ran two miles. Kinda nice for a warm-up. I need
to remember to do that before the Marathon; then again, I'm sure they'll
remind me. And off we went. They told me to run the first couple of miles
very slowly, so I kept a ten minute pace. And from then on, I ran at a 9:30
mile pace, which is still slow for me but the point is to finish it. I paced
myself well between water breaks and goo (which I forgot to bring with me
but there was plenty to grab on the sidelines). Anyway, I got to mile #11,
and I decided to pick it up for the final two miles at about a 8:30/9 minute
pace. So my last two miles were my fastest. Not so bad, huh? And at the finish
line, I wasn't even slightly tired with the exception of my knees, but when
you've got pins and screws inside you and it's raining outside, well, what
would you expect? I'll tell you what was great: passing and seeing other
Team-In-Trainers and exchanging "Go Team". It's stupid, but it really helps
seeing familiar faces urging you on. I do need to buy an i-pod; I did get
bored and I do think music will pick up my pace when my mind begins to sleep
some. All in all, I can't wait to kick the marathon's ass in a month and
a half.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 31 - 11:17 PM - GOLDEN GATE PARK
8 miles. 69:00. 239 miles in total.
So get this: They want me to run two miles before the Half Marathon tomorrow
so I can get 15 in. Now I'm I shape and I think/know I can run the marathon
tomorrow if needed, but isn't that sadomasochistic of them? And why will they
be wearing tight black leather outfits?
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28 - 7:24 AM - GOLDEN GATE PARK
3.5 miles. 33:59. 231 miles in total.
What I wrote yesterday goes for today, except I now have the image in
my mind of a midget drinking a Slurpee while riding on the N-Judah. There's
nothing that can top that, unless you add in a monkey and a clown somewhere.
But where would you put them?
TUESDAY, JANUARY 27 - 7:29 AM - GOLDEN GATE PARK
3.5 miles. 34:13. 227.5 miles in total.
My legs feel better today. I don't know what got into them yesterday.
Whatever it was, it's on a permanent vacation to GetTheHellOutOfMyLegsTown,
which is near steveohville if you take a left near Healthy City. This post
is ridiculous. Sorry.
MONDAY, JANUARY 26 - 7:30 AM - GOLDEN GATE PARK
4 miles. 38:20. 224 miles in total.
So it's a little rainy out. So it's not exactly a warm day. So my legs
feel like granite anchors today. I don't care. The air feels great in my lungs.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 24 - 12:15 PM - GOLDEN GATE PARK, LAND'S END AND PANDHANDLE
13 miles. 2:00:00. 220 miles in total.
Hell, I'm running the SF Half-Marathon next week, so I figured I might
as well run about 13 miles this week. I think this is about right (this was
my time about two years ago when I ran it) and it wasn't so bad. My legs
felt heavy - now that my cold and sore throat is almost gone I better pick
up the trainig - but otherwise I'm in good shape. And that's a great feeling
to have only seven weeks away from the best and worst four hours of my life.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 22 - 6:30 AM - GOLDEN GATE PARK
3.5 miles. 31:20. 207 miles in total.
I'm running in the dark, nighttime in the morning, and it's not so bad.
My dad just took off for New York so here I am in the pitch black, aided
only by the occasional street light and Howard Stern, who made me laugh so
goddamn hard this morning. And did I mention my ever-trusty sidekicks, sore
throat and cold? Yep, 'twas a good run.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 20 - 7:28 AM - GOLDEN GATE PARK
3.5 miles. 32:50. 203.5 miles in total.
So my body is still hurting from Saturday and I still have a frigging
cold. But I'm fighting through it. Step by step. Sniff by sniff. Sore throat
by stupid sore throat that won't frigging leave me can you tell that I'm
frustrated by waking up at 6:47 each morning with every intention to run but
being hampered by a terrible cold that just won't go away? Down with colds.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 17 - 1:31 PM - GOLDEN GATE PARK
7.5 miles. 69:23. 200 miles in total.
I played a doublehader this morning - after seven straight weeks of rainouts,
we finally played two - and I had a real busy day in centerfield and on the
basepaths, nothing but sprinting, so here's a nice run through the park.
And lemme tell you - I'm hurting. I don't know if it's because of the lack
of running due to the stupid frigging cold or because sprinting muscles are
different than long-distance muscles, but I hurt. (Maybe it's because I have
a 29-year-old body with the knees of an octogenarian).