I Can Run 100 Miles

Not consecutively, of course. That’s crazy talk. I find my mileage, like my personality, is better in smaller doses.

With apologies to The Proclaimers (and who thinks maybe they should apologize a bit to us for this song as well?), my February wraps up with a nice little total mileage near 100 miles. I did not run 100 miles. I didn’t even walk 500 miles…and walk 500 more just to be the man who walked 1,000 miles. I ran a shade over 94. What’s with all the walking anyhow?

Ninety-four miles represents a January high for me. Usually I spend the first two months of every year in a semi-hibernation waiting out the snow, ice, and cold. Not this year. I figure that if I want to make this the Year of the Ass Kicker, I better get off to a good start. You know, get my muscles pulls and debilitating injuries over early so I can quit YAKing by March. Why delay things?

I believe it was Brooks in The Shawshank Redemption, when faced with the movie refrain ‘get busy living, or get busy dying’, decided to get busy dying by kicking the table from under himself and hanging from the rafters. I think I’ll be like Red and choose to get busy living. In this case, get busy living is represented by a complete listing of runs on my training log. Not a missed day for the month! I sure know how to live it up, don’t I?

Today is the official kick-off for Bayshore Marathon training. And, of course, it is a rest day. I know how to start a plan the right way. Some of you schedule a run for the first day but that just seems silly. There’s 16 weeks to go. Pace yourself.

Also, even though I reference a “plan”, I still have not actually put my plan on paper. It’s still swirling around in my head along with sports scores, the plot to Lost, and amidst the wreckage of unrealized childhood dreams. I’ll tilt my head and dump it out my ear onto paper later today or tomorrow but don’t be surprised if week 8 contains ‘throw winning touchdown in the Super Bowl’ in place of a long run. I don’t know what’s going to come out. Plus, wouldn’t it be nice if once – just once – Runner’s World had an article about ’16 weeks to your best marathon!’ or ‘Our new plan for your fastest marathon ever!’? Help a brother out. Someone’s asleep at the switch over there.

So, off I go into February…into Bayshore training…with a get busy living attitude. Of course, if I come home again with my fingers mildly frost bit and face ice-wind burned like I did yesterday, I may be looking for the nearest rafter and a strong rope.

A month from now, Brooks’ way may not seem so bad.

Happy trails.

January total miles = 94.25
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Sunday long run: 12 miles @ 6:59 pace. Started out easy, got cold, picked up the pace, got really cold, decided to really pick up the pace and negative split the sumbitch. My hands were tingling and burning for the first half hour after returning home.