Duh

I was sitting in the plane last night when I felt a slight twinge in my forearm. A little leftover sting from last week. It suddenly dawned on me ... here's one good reason why my runs were so bad last weekend. What a week it was, that I even forgot I had donated blood on Thursday, had a rest day on Friday, and then attempted my pace run on Saturday morning. Duh! No wonder I was out of gas on that run!

I'm in San Francisco for a couple of days. There's a 3-mile EZ run in the plan for the morning. I'm hoping the red blood cells are back at full strength by then.

Speed Bump

Could it be there's trouble ahead? I said I would run Memphis for fun and as a tune-up to Disney, but I started my training plan gunning for a PR. No need to wait, trouble's already here ...

This is my 3rd week of training. My EZ runs and LSD runs have been workable, even it takes some effort to complete on time. My pace runs have been off the mark, and today, it was way off. It was only a 5-mile pace run. I had to stop 3 times during the run, which almost always never happens, and finally, I decided I was just plain out of gas.

It's been a tough week at work, and that might have had something to do with it. One of those weeks where on Monday morning, you're already wondering how in the world you're going to make it to Friday.

Or it could have been last night when I passed out around 8:00, and then was up at 2:00 am watching Hawaii 5-0 reruns from Netflix. It's amusing watching how they operated back then without cellphones, internet access, or A/C in their cars in Honolulu, all while wearing a suit and tie. Hmm, come to think of it, that theme song might not be a bad running song!

Anyway, one bad run does not a season make. I'll just keep plugging along. LSD run tomorrow; at a slow enough pace, I can go forever.

Just A Hunk, A Hunk Of Burning Love

I couldn't sleep last night. For a natural born sleeper who has logged many-a-hour asleep in taxis, buses, trains and countless planes, that was a rare occurrence. My mind was ablaze, my body was a wreck. Marathon training had commenced. 1 down, 17 weeks to go.

It should have been a simple enough week 1. Tue/Wed/Thu 3-5-3 EZ runs, Sat 5-pace run, and Sun 8-LSD run. The mind had to learn all over again that a 6:00am wake-up call cannot be snoozed away, no sirree, Bob ... not anymore. The body had to learn all over again that the mind is in charge and not the other way around. I've been eating like a horse and sleeping like a pig, but I still feel hungry like the wolf and I'm waking up tired as a dog! Is my mind playing tricks on me already? Is my running getting worse than my writing? Do I really want to go through with this?

Well, in a word, yes. That's exactly why I signed up. Otherwise, I'd be stumbling from one mediocre run to another. Week 1 shook the cobwebs off. I'm hoping week 2 will be better. I'll find out tomorrow at 6:00 am.

In the meantime, here's my new favorite running song, which is giving Rocky a run for it's money. Just what I need to get the heart pumping. Quite apropos for this time of year, don't you think?

Lord Almighty,
feel my temperature rising.
Higher, higher,
it's burning through to my soul.
Girl girl girl,
you've gone and set me on fire.
My brain is flaming.
I don't know which way to go.

Your kisses lift me higher,
like the sweet song of a choir.
And you light my morning sky
with burning love.

Ooh ooh ooh,
I feel my temperature rising.
Help me, I'm flaming,
I must be a hundred and nine.
Burning burning burning,
and nothing can cool me.
I just might turn into smoke,
but I feel fine.