The Adventures of Cowboy Hazel

I wonder what people would talk about if it wasn’t for the weather. All day today, I’ve heard people bitching and complaining about the rain and the cold and the clouds. But, it was only a few weeks ago that these same people were all whining about the heat. Yes, the rain can sometimes be a nuisance, but if you take a deep breath and look around, it’s actually a nice change of pace.

Note: I might be more inclined to appreciate the rain than most because I have two eight-foot-tall windows here in my living room that look out onto a courtyard filled with beautiful old trees. There’s nothing quite as good as watching the drops crash into them and then slide down.

So, I read over what I wrote here Monday (or early Tuesday morning, technically) and laughed to myself at how overly dramatic my writing can be at times. I guess I’m no better than all those people bitching about the rain…  Don’t worry — no more whining today.  Just some running news:

Well, I’m less than two months away from my marathon finally. To be honest with you, I’m really looking forward to getting it over with. I hate how these long runs are completely taking over my weekends. My training schedule rotates long runs with “short long runs” every other Saturday. This week was one of the shorter ones — a 13 miler. Of course, 13 miles is still a very serious run. Unfortunately, I didn’t go into with that attitude this morning. I let the fact that I ran 21 miles a week ago trick me into thinking that today’s 13 would be no big deal. That was such a mistake. I started with Antonio running way too fast and after our first lap of the park, I told him to go ahead, that I couldn’t keep anymore. I kept running, but it was painful, and I finished with a 7:24 pace, much slower than last week’s longer run. I came home exhausted, took a long hot bath, and then watched a corny Kung Fu movie before deciding that I had to at least try to get something accomplished today. I made it down to the Upper East Side for some quick errands, but that was about all I had in me. Now, I’m on my way back to the recliner where I’ll spend the evening reading. It makes me feel like such a bum being so lazy but, frankly, I just really don’t have the energy to do much else. These forty and fifty mile weeks are really starting to take their toll.

On the bright side, however, I already have more miles in for September than I had for either August or July and I still have two more runs scheduled. I’m going to finish the month with 157 miles! If you remember back to March and April, I wasn’t even able to achieve the 100 miles per month goal that I had set for myself in my “Almost New Year Resolutions.” What a difference a few months can make! And, I suppose you have to take all that into account. I mean, I get frustrated when I can’t keep up with my friends running sometimes, but I need to remind myself that getting back into shape is a long process, not something that just happens overnight.

Also, I have some very exciting news: My dad and I are going to run the 2009 Bolder Boulder together… in under an hour! We’ve done the race “together” a few times, but it’s always been me running in an early wave and him walking in a later one. But, hearing my friend talk about her plans to run this year’s New York City Marathon sounded like so much fun that I decided to make the proposal to my dad that I would run with him if he would commit to finishing in under an hour. That’s going to be a big accomplishment for him and I’m very excited for him to experience the joy that achieving the goal will bring. I’m going to give him a general schedule and training ideas to help him keep on pace. This next Bolder Boulder is going to be the best yet.

Well, all those fancy groceries that I just bought down on 86th Street (specifically the tortellini, pesto sauce, and bottle of Chianti) are calling my name. And, I’m going to answer…