24 Days Later (not a zombie flick)

Yes, yes, it's been a loooong 24 days since I've last blogged...and I have no one to blame but myself.

The truth is, I like summer. I like hot days, cold beers, and the fun outdoorsy things that can be done.

I do not, however, like running in the summer. It is hot, sticky, harsh-breathing work, and the days post-giving blood only made it worse. Add to that a long weekend with relatives in town, another weekend down with a nasty cold...and it's been almost three weeks since I've done a run longer than 5 miles. Ick.

That said, I'm not giving up running entirely, and I'm not giving blogging up either...but the last paragraph kind of sums up the last three weeks.

So what's next? Well, I am GLAD YOU ASKED! Falmouth is what's next in terms of races--a gigantic 10K held in Falmouth, Massachusetts, where normal runners (such as me) will race against the greats--Bill Rodgers and a slew of Kenyans. Other runners you've heard me mention will also be attending this sure to be exciting event--Caitlin, Lucas, Brenda, Jared, to name a few.

After that, the only race I've signed up for is the Seacoast half.

In the meantime, I plan to at last get back to the destination runs--now that Jared's IT band has stopped troubling him, it's time for me to drag him back out on the road (notice how I don't mention a blistering 3 mile run last week in which he pushed the pace the entire way--also in which we stopped to peruse a couch on the side of the street, but that's another story). This weekend we're camping with friends from the CAC basketball leagues (where both of us play, and also where we met) in the mountains of New Hampshire...and...

is that what I think it is? The smell of a fresh trail that needs some running on it? Hmmm....I think so.

Today's lesson: Remember, you don't need to run faster than the bear. You only need to run faster than the other people trying to outrun the bear.

Hopefully Jared and I can run faster than this random Asian guy.

Part II: The blog that will put me (back) at the top of JRod's blog list

What can I say? I must regain my uppermost position in the list....

Here you'll find several runs, covering a week of running, though not many miles, and the reason for my lackluster blogging performance of late.

SUNDAY: In which our erstwhile runner commits a serious running crime.
1. bandit (n.): a person who takes unfair advantage of others, as a merchant who overcharges; swindler; cheat.
2. bandit (n.): a vendor, cab driver, etc. (e.g., runner), who operates a business or works (runs) without a required license or permit, and without observing the usual rules or practices.
3. bandit (n.): A kind of adhesive mustache.

While I acknowledge the guilty feelings rushing through me with every step of last Sunday's New Run on the Charles, those feelings didn't stop me from running the 7.5 miles with Kate, Allison, and Kristin. Those feelings also didn't stop me from consuming a banana, orange, hot dog, and some sort of infused water/fruit drink concoction after the race.

They did however, cause me to attempt to casually avert my entire (un-numbered) midsection while passing the assorted volunteers marking the course, fans, water stands, and well-know race director Paulie, every time I saw them.

I admit, Paulie, that I am no stranger to your races, held throughout Somerville, and often supplying delicious cold Harpoon beer...(Please note that my guilty feelings did keep me from acquiring and enjoying said cold beer at this particular race. Well, that and I couldn't find the beer table.) I WANTED to sign up for the race, and fully meant to, but suddenly race weekend was here, registration was closed, and I had two women accusing me of rotten friend-ed-ness for not having signed up. When faced with the quandary of letting down friends, or running as a bandit, I chose the latter. And despite the humidity, and my nervousness at being found out, in this my first illegal road race, I enjoyed myself thoroughly.

Played some hoops that night also, and didn't find myself running again until this past...

THURSDAY
...when a slow 4-mile jaunt with Brenda left me wheezing like the chubby 5th-grader who always gets picked last for Dodgeball (Sorry, Evan, but you did grow out of it). I felt like nothing short of an ass, and was thoroughly perplexed by my tiredness and shortness of breath--all after suckering Brenda into a 5:30 a.m. run. (It wasn't until later than I realized giving blood the day prior likely accounted for it.)

Sorry, B!

LASTLY: In which our erstwhile runner at last explains herself.
Blogging about running has been an invaluable act to me--in training for the marathon, and in helping others to see what running has meant for me, and to let them share in all of the good and bad moments of it.

However, while running in Mason, OH, during the interval workout of doom, I realized that blogging about each run had somehow taken over the actual run--that is, while I was physically running, I was also thinking about how I was going to blog about it.

Which, frankly, is ridiculous. The reason that I run is to get away from the stresses, and to NOT think about things unless they pop into my brain naturally, and I suddenly felt as though I was losing that a little.

So what I've decided is this--I'm going to take a little break from blogging this summer. I'm not going to stop; I'm just not going to worry about documenting each and every run. This way I will decrease the quantity, but hopefully increase the quality of each blog that I do end up doing--I'll blog each of the destination runs most likely, and whatever runs compel me to blog, but no more than that. If a run is ho-hum, and there's nothing in it of interest to share, then I most likely won't. Some blogs will likely be a compilation of several runs, as this one was. I may blog about running-related things on a day when I didn't actually run, also.

In a nutshell, I'm trying to get back to the basics. Hopefully this won't stop you from checking in on my blog, and enjoying the posts that do appear!

And if you find that you need your blogger fix more often, check out Brenda's and Jared's blogs--they are much better about posting in a timely manner--and always entertaining to read!