Best Laid Plans

But Mousie, thou art no thy lane,
In proving foresight may be vain;
The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

From the poem "To a Mouse" By Robert Burns

Scottish!

My plans for the Boston Marathon are coming together. Hotel is booked. Flight is booked. Maps are googled. What could go wrong? Or, what could 'gang aft agley'? What does that mean? Is that English?

Ahh, the magic of google. "Gang aft agley" is Scottish for 'often go awry'. So, there you go.

It appears everything is set to go but the training itself. I am proceeding slowly but diligently. I expect to get only one 20 miler in before the marathon. This will be my third marathon in 6 months. A feat I hope NOT to repeat. I really feel two a year is enough and will be the plan going forward. However, the whole Goofy Challenge plans were made and then the BQ occurred and I couldn't afford NOT to go to Boston and risk not qualifying again in the future. So....

I'm trying to balance keeping the legs fresh while getting in shape for Boston. I probably won't be in peak condition but I hope to be in healthy, energized condition if you know what I mean.

These are the plans. I hope they don't gang aft agley. (No? Not working for you? How do you work eighteenth century Scottish slang into every day conversation??)

Fun facts: Robert Burns is most commonly known as Scotland's national poet, the Ploughman's Poet, or, simply, The Bard. He is revered. You may know him as the creator of the New Year's poem/song Auld Lang Syne.


Update: Nipple-gate

A quick word on my last post. I am still basking in the after glow of working a nipple photo into my post. A prouder accomplishment one could not have. However, my wife did want me to make it clear that the nipple was not hers either. Nor anyone we know (as far as we know). It was simply an anonymous nipple found through a google search of 'areola'. The wonders of the web!

Happy trails.