Rainy Day
It's been raining all day long, a rarity in Philadelphia.
I couldn't bring myself out of bed this morning. Partly because of my particular aversion to running in the rain, partly because of the comfortable feeling of lying in with the rain pounding against the windows. It was followed by that rarity, spending a Saturday morning home with the kids. T and I made crepes together and clowned around in the kitchen while doing so.
Nonetheless, the call of the streets beckoned. I cobbled together plan B at 11:30 - run out to USP and get a treadmill workout until 12:35, when I had to go back to do the obigatory Saturday parental driving. The USP Rec Center is supposed to open at 11, but because it was Columbus Day weekend they stealthily delayed opening until noon. So I got there 20 minutes early. After weighing my limited options I figured I'd sit and wait at the front door until it opened. In doing this, I realized how thoroughly unaccustomed I've become to waiting doing nothing for even 20 minutes. I felt like one of the people who, in college, would wait first in line for the dining hall to open and whom I always considered to be among the larger losers among the student population. And to top it off, I thought about the miles I could be running while I was inert.
The doors did open at noon, and I got in 4 miles (in 31:26) on the hamster wheel. Listening to the North Mississippi AllStars on the iPod (after a few listens it has become really good music to run to) until the power drained out, and then letting my mind riff on why its so damn hard not to stare at the odometer that creeps along oh so slowly. I deliberately kept the pace mellow, and hope that in doing so my achilles at least got some opportunity to recover.
Tomorrow is the Delaware Distance Classic, in which I will undo the resting I did over the last few days. I scouted out the guy I beat by a nose for the Masters title last year, and he's been running way better than I have, and if the 51 yo SJAC runner shows, I may be lucky to get an age group placing. At least I know who these guys are, so I'll go out with them and try to hang on. Maybe I got more in the tank than I think, and maybe the rain (which my middle school gym teacher and xc coach used to call the "great equalizer") will be to my advantage.
Did I say rain to my advantage? I must be really dreaming!
I couldn't bring myself out of bed this morning. Partly because of my particular aversion to running in the rain, partly because of the comfortable feeling of lying in with the rain pounding against the windows. It was followed by that rarity, spending a Saturday morning home with the kids. T and I made crepes together and clowned around in the kitchen while doing so.
Nonetheless, the call of the streets beckoned. I cobbled together plan B at 11:30 - run out to USP and get a treadmill workout until 12:35, when I had to go back to do the obigatory Saturday parental driving. The USP Rec Center is supposed to open at 11, but because it was Columbus Day weekend they stealthily delayed opening until noon. So I got there 20 minutes early. After weighing my limited options I figured I'd sit and wait at the front door until it opened. In doing this, I realized how thoroughly unaccustomed I've become to waiting doing nothing for even 20 minutes. I felt like one of the people who, in college, would wait first in line for the dining hall to open and whom I always considered to be among the larger losers among the student population. And to top it off, I thought about the miles I could be running while I was inert.
The doors did open at noon, and I got in 4 miles (in 31:26) on the hamster wheel. Listening to the North Mississippi AllStars on the iPod (after a few listens it has become really good music to run to) until the power drained out, and then letting my mind riff on why its so damn hard not to stare at the odometer that creeps along oh so slowly. I deliberately kept the pace mellow, and hope that in doing so my achilles at least got some opportunity to recover.
Tomorrow is the Delaware Distance Classic, in which I will undo the resting I did over the last few days. I scouted out the guy I beat by a nose for the Masters title last year, and he's been running way better than I have, and if the 51 yo SJAC runner shows, I may be lucky to get an age group placing. At least I know who these guys are, so I'll go out with them and try to hang on. Maybe I got more in the tank than I think, and maybe the rain (which my middle school gym teacher and xc coach used to call the "great equalizer") will be to my advantage.
Did I say rain to my advantage? I must be really dreaming!
posted by seebo | 6:50 PM
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