Marathon Update

It's been a month since I started training for a marathon.  Which means I have about two and a half more months to reach the 26.2 mile mark.  How am I progressing toward that goal, you ask?  Well, first of all, thanks for asking.  I'm progressing fairly well, if I do say so myself.  There have been a few bumps in the road, so to speak (har har), but for the most part, I've been on easy street (OK, that's enough).

I'm using what's apparently the most popular marathon training plan, because every time I mention that I'm training, the person I'm talking to says, "Oh, are you doing long runs on the weekends and short runs during the week, with some hills thrown in?"  Or something similar.  And I say, "Why, yes, I am."

My most recent conversation of this sort was with a coworker today at lunchtime.  He recited his part flawlessly, and I proudly informed him that my longest run so far was a whopping 10 miles.  Ten miles! (I didn't repeat it to him, but I'm repeating it here because I'm damn proud of it.) That's the second-farthest I've ever run in my entire life (that's nearly 30 years, kids).  The farthest was 13.1 miles, when I did a half-marathon in November of 2009.  In a few weeks, I'll surpass even that distance.  Assuming all the training continues to go well.

Which brings me to the kinks.  There are two kinks at the moment: the right leg and the left leg.  Specifically, the muscles at the very bottom of each leg, just above the foot, on both the front and the back of each leg.  These areas have been tight during runs and even on my rest days.  I was hoping the tightness would go away on its own as I continued to train, but so far, no.  It's not a huge problem yet, but as my distances get longer, I'll need to be looser.  I'm trying to stretch more often and stay flexible, so we'll see if that helps.

My girlfriend, however, has not been so fortunate in her training.  For the past couple of weeks, she's been wrestling with a sore IT band, a bundle of tissue that comes down the thigh and around the knee.  The best thing for it is rest, and maybe a little physical therapy, but she's having trouble doing either one. I hate to see her struggling like this, and can only imagine how frustrating it must be.  I hope it heals quickly, because I don't want her to be unprepared for the marathon or to have to skip it, leaving me to run all by my lonesome. Or, worse yet, leaving me to run this marathon alone and then convincing me that I need to run another marathon with her when she's healed!  Gasp!  Please heal quickly!

Blue (in a good way)

With all the complaining I do about the unfavorable weather here in western Washington, I need to create some balance by celebrating the good days.  And lately, there have been a lot of good days.  Summer did not arrive on time, at the exact moment my little ticker turned over and started counting the other direction.  But it has arrived nonetheless.

Two weeks ago, I went to Boise, Idaho, for my cousin's wedding.  When I left Washington, it was still a bit chilly and cloudy, but not as bad as it had been at the very end of spring.  I was glad to get away to sunny, warm, beautiful Boise and the mountains outside the city, where the wedding took place.  Speaking to my girlfriend on the phone that weekend, I was informed that the Washington skies continued to be gray.

Since arriving home a week and a half ago, though, I've been incredibly fortunate.  Some summers, the weather will stay cool and wet into the middle of July.  This year, the warm days began shortly before July 4, giving us a better than usual holiday.  At times during the past couple of weeks, I've even been hotter than I'd like.  But I refuse to complain about that.  I figure that if I whine about the cold, I'm not allowed to whine about the heat.  And the truth is, with so much cold throughout the year, I really don't mind the heat.

Western Washington is a breathtakingly beautiful place, with its trees, mountains, and water. (In fact, I think I just saw an eagle fly over the inlet outside my window.) But it's so much easier to appreciate all that beauty when the gray covering is lifted and the spectacle is well lit and accompanied by what I consider one of nature's most appealing sights: a clear, blue sky.

Not the most recent photo, but you can't argue with that view. (That's my brother in the foreground and a friend behind him.)