It’s one of those fall days where it’s good to be a runner. Heading out for a long run today, it felt almost cold. I debated wearing compression sleeves or gloves or a hat. But after careful consideration (read: no consideration) I decided that I was going to warm up as I ran. As I always do. As everyone always does. A perfect day. Nice weather. Nice foliage. Man, here I go, sounding like a hippie.
I met the rest of the Taconics for the regular Saturday long run — I’ve been back a number of times since my injury, but I’ve always taken it easy, never running more than 8 or 9 miles. Today, I wanted to do 10 or 11, and I ran at a good clip for me, just above an 8 minute pace. Ran with a good group of good friends, we told jokes, made fun of each other, farted, all the usual stuff. There was some mud. There was some road kill. There was awesome weather, all in all it was a great day to be out.
What was special about today is I felt great throughout — no pain, no hamstring, nothing. I feel now I am well enough to injure myself again. My favorite 10k is tomorrow, here in Croton, but I’m not that ready to injure myself, so I’m going to volunteer to keep myself from running. But I am going to sign up for another race soon, maybe as soon as next weekend, when there is a 5k in Las Vegas.
I’m also thinking about the spring. I am not a bitter person, I hope, but I missed boston this year by like 27 seconds. I feel like after rest, some cycling, etc., whatever, I am ready for a spring marathon to get into Boston for 2013. That’s healthy, right? It’s not like I’ve been denied something and I’m clawing it back into my paws through spite and anger, right? No, not at all. I’m just going to run through the freaking winter like a lunatic, do track repeats on icy ovals, and then run through some suburban shithole in order to be allowed to sit on a school bus in New England again. That’s totally normal.
Seriously, I am excited about getting back into it. I’ll see how I feel next week, but I’m considering the New Jersey marathon. It’s just a week after Boston, so I can train with some of my friends who are running that race in order to get a good time in mine. Totally healthy.
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