Am I really gonna run San Francisco

The worst of winter is over and I'm thinking more and more about 26.2 in San Fran in July. With no long runs in ages I tried a little 11 miler today and that seems like something I can build on, so far so good. I also tried some speed work last week before snow covered the local tracks and while I only punched out 4 x 400 the workout had a decent feel to it. Add in a few tempo runs with some decent pop and maybe I'm on my way. BUT, lest I forget I'm also slower and fatter than I've been in a long time. AND OLDER

Let the games begin.

Running ain't new no more

I had lunch with a couple of guys from way back when today and we rehashed High School sports, who we knew, where we were, what we did, and of course now. Nice day !!! I had a 2 hour ride home and somehow I began thinking about how simple play is when its new and and how it changes as time passes and we complicate the game. Some examples:

- Play as a kid is running around and maybe inventing a game or two, play as an adult involves buying lots of stuff and making a ton of plans.

- The first time I sailed a boat ( Sunfish) was simple and easy. Owning a cruising boat was a lot of work, money and time, eventually it owned me.

- Skydiving was a big thrill the 1st time, got scared, looked down, jumped (static line jump). Later it was how many people on the jump, how many formations, who funneled the dive, etc.

- Hunting!!, cool but you can only shoot one gun at a time and squirrels as a kid were probably the most fun.

- Skiing, were long drives to Vermont or flights out west really any better than just driving to Camelback and getting a morning pass?

- And then there is running, in the 60's it was gym shorts, cotton socks and a tee shirt. Now its tech shirts, tech shorts with liner and just the right pockets for whatever, road shoes, racing shoes, trail shoes, ice shoes, lots of pairs to rotate and a sock collection that's just plain shameful. Oh! and winter gear, rain gear, 2 to the 3rd power times pi pairs of gloves, hats, balaclavas, ear warmers, Gu, sport drinks, Cliff bars, 3 watches, and I'm on my fourth GARMIN. An Excel spreadsheet for a log and lest we forget a BLOG, gotta simplify now.

I didn't dwell on winning here but if you have to win it can be rewarding, fulfilling, satisfying, blah, blah, but it ain't PLAY.

No 20K

I passed on the Boston Buildup 20K today not because my knee was bothering me, but because the cutback in miles has been offset by an increased caloric intake. I've been trying to drop 12 - 15 Lbs for years, now I can just make it 20 some. On the bright side I ran the OCA from Croton Dam with Mike and Michelle Saturday and it was fun. Just slick enough to make it interesting and the only time in history that just one person fell and it wasn 't me. We all hadn't run together for a while so I was also able to dump the sarcasm file over 5 1/2 miles. Today it was the 7.1 loop around Titicus reservoir, slow start but a lot of pop at the end which is good. My plan now is to get training for some as yet unknown spring races and see if I can have one good showing. Then in April train for the San Francisco Marathon. Right now I feel I have as good a chance of running a marathon as I do of an out and back to Peru. The memory of my bonk at mile 17 of the "Run for the Red Marathon" after my bypass a couple of years ago and my inability to do long training runs lately are my current wall of fear. So the challenge is defined and put up time ain't that far away.