The Itch

I’ve got that itch again. Not the kind that requires a regimen of penicillin to cure (been there, done that.) The marathon itch.

I don’t think I’m getting the proper amount of abuse in my diet. The speed work hurts sometimes but it’s over quickly. You barely work up the beginnings of a good hate and regret and then it’s done. And you’re happy again. If you’re lucky, you might get to wipe some puke spittle from your chin after a grueling session but that doesn’t even take but a second.

No, I need some deeper, longer pain. The kind that throbs down to the bone hours after you’ve finished your run. The kind that makes you question whether or not it was all worth it. To wonder what it would be like to never have to move again. To look longingly at your neighbors in their lawn chairs watching their sprinklers with an umbrella topped lemonade in their hands while you stumble by 15 miles into a sweat drenched long run.

I have a half marathon on the schedule for September and - if I could find one – I’d like to do another in November. But those are only half marathons. That’s like scratching an itch with someone else’s hand. It never quite hits the spot (though it can lead to the penicillin. Been there, done that.)

No, I need some longer miles. More pain. More fatigue. I’m trying to hold out until next April and the 2010 Boston Marathon but it’s hard, man, and I need - I need - the abuse. I’ve capped my weekend long runs in the 8-10 mile range for the last three months. Now I know how it feels to be a stomach stapled fat guy presented with a buffet. It looks like you could eat the whole thing but there are these restraints…

I have so much energy lately that I’ve been pruning tree limbs all over my yard with a hand saw and, occasionally, a broom stick just to make it last longer. I climb up like a v.d. crazed spider monkey and make life/death decisions on the limbs based on texture, aesthetic appeal and sometimes taste and then hack away howling with delight. But these arborescent appendage amputations only provide temporary relief from the ever present Itch.

There is a pile of severed limbs in my yard. I haven’t had the desire to break them down and remove them. I’m a collector. I collect my amputated trophies like a cathouse client collects pharmaceutical bills (been there, done that.) What I really want to collect is miles. Long run miles.

I might start scratching the Itch. We’ve always been told that if you scratch it, it only makes it worse. But I need the abuse. I need the long run miles. I have herpes simplex run. The penicillin won’t cure it (this time.)

Time to run long.

Besides, my trees look like telephone poles now.

Happy trails.
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Lest you think I have abandoned the SOS2 know that Tuesdays and Saturday will remain speed work days with the focus on 5k and and 10k preparation. I'll probably take one more stab at each before fall settles in. Thursday and Sunday will be half marathon prep days.

A warm, windy, humid night saw a last interval fade which I didn't fight. Managed 4 x 800 @ 2:52 pace average. Looking for 2:50 average. C'est la vie. I'll start adding an interval a week from here on out.