Saturday, January 31, 2009

Running Can Be Humbling

Today's run, the last of the week, was a bear. My previous two runs this week totaled seven miles and I'd played about 15 minutes of hard basketball. I should have been fresh for a long run, but the body had other plans.

I planned an 11-miler from the house with two major hills at Miles Two and Nine. The weather was excellent - 50 degrees and dry with a good breeze. When I reached Mile Three, I knew things weren't great. At Mile Five, I felt lethargic. Soon, I felt rotten. I ran eight of the 11 miles, walking 2.5 of the last 3.5.

Sometimes, it's just not there. My stomach growled all morning, and I'm wondering if I'm fighting a bug in the early stages. I almost hope so. Running 26.2 is going to be tough enough, but if I'm having an off day on race day, yikes. We move on.

This morning, the 3rd-4th grade boys' basketball team I coach played well, winning 23-10. Our least athletic boys played their best games, which was a highlight of thge season for the coaches. These boys moved to the right spots, stopped opponents from scoring and made better passes. It was nice to see progress.

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