THE RUN FOR CHRISTINE
hellraisin'
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).
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14 - 7:30 AM - GOLDEN GATE PARK 4 miles. 37:00.
192.5 miles in total.
Remember that cold I told you about from a while back? Well, it still
ain't left. That bastard. And it's been kicking my tired ass. But I ran today.
Felt good.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 10 - 12:10 PM - GOLDEN GATE PARK, LAND'S END, SEACLIFF,
PRESIDIO, MARINA PANHANDLE
16 miles. 2:30:00. 189.5 miles in total.
Yep. You read that right. I figured after a week full of not running
du to a cold and a 90-hour workweek that I might as well get it all out at
once. And the course I gave myself was a helluva lot hillier than what I
can expect to find in Phoenix. So my effort probably outworked my mileage
(which is a guess). To my point: I walked up the Lyon steps, which is an
incomprehensively high set of steps that just keep on going up. That killed
my hamstrings even though I was in the other part of the city. But I farted
in its general direction and moved on. It was a long run but I still felt
I had another 4 miles or so in my legs, which would equal 20, yes, but the
last six miles is mind over muscle anyway so I feel real good about today.
Reals goods yo. So good that I've spoken in slang.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 6 - 7:27 AM - GOLDEN GATE PARK
4 miles. 34:21. 173.5 miles in total.
I came all the way from the frigid snow-laden streets of New York just
to land in California to get a cold. This sucks. Whatever. Might as well
run it out of me. I will run it all the way back to the streets it came from.
I will run it so far that my cold's nose will be running. That is what I
will do to you, stupid cold that is with me today.
MONDAY, JANUARY 5 - 7:25 AM - GOLDEN GATE PARK
3.5 miles. 30:21. 169.5 miles in total.
Frost. Not Robert Frost. Not a Frostee. Frost. As in ice. That's the
pavement I ran on today, the coating on the leaves I ran past today. My breath.
Why do I see my breath? Huh? Wha? Who? I'm sorry, am I still in California?
This wasn't in the brochure.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 3 - 10:45 AM - GOLDEN GATE PARK, LAND'S END, SEACLIFF,
PRESIDIO, THE MARINA & THE PANHANDLE
16 miles. 159:27. 166 miles in total.
Oh yeah. Sixteen unintentional miles. Didn't mean to run them, but I would
up too far away to do anything about it, so I ran it. And what a run. There's
not a cloud in the sky, and along my run through the Presidio on Lincoln
Blvd, I had a cliff on my left hand side with the perfectly blue Pacific
beneath it, and always in front of me was the Golden Gate Bridge. Damn. I
didn't really mind the pain in my legs until I began to walk home at my
usual finish line back in the Park. It just made me think how hard that was,
and I still would have another ten miles to go if today was the day. And
that's a scary thought. But let's save that for another day, shall we? Today,
we celebrate and mineral ice.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 2 - 8:29 AM - GOLDEN GATE PARK + STOW LAKE
3.5 miles. 30:00. 150 miles in total.
It seemed like I ran longer, but I didn't. Oh well. Whatever. It's over,
and there's no pain, so shins, you can suck it. Suck it hard. You've been
trounced by a better man, and you're either on the ship or overboard,
and I guessed you picked staying dry, didn't you, you wuss. You don't have
any balls, shins, no you don't. Goin' down without a fight. Puss.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 1 - 11:58 AM - GOLDEN GATE PARK
7 miles. 69:06. 146.5 miles in total.
I spend my time in New York away from the treadmill, just because past
experiences have proven to me that my shins do not react well to treadmills
and I always - always - come back to San Francisco with shin splints. So
I avoided them. And yesterday I run a mile and - you guessed it - shin pain.
What the hell? What am I doing wrong? So I ran in the rain, very slowly
and deliberately, and took my time, and no pain. Phew. But seriously, shins,
come on, stop the tyranny. I'm onto you. And you suck.