Long run, short blog

90 days. That’s what the email said, 90 days. And since that email had been sitting unopened in my inbox for a while, by this morning it was more like 85 days. 85 days until May 1, the second Illinois marathon.

I ran my first and so far only half-marathon last year when Champaign hosted its inaugural marathon event. Before that 10K (6.2 miles) was the longest I’d ever managed, and that was many years ago.

Unlike ice skating, I didn’t start jogging accidentally. It was a conscious decision, a strategy to help me quit smoking by replacing a harmful addiction with a healthier one. My idea was that I needed to develop a routine that would be threatened by a return to cigarettes. Fortunately I discovered that jogging in 5K and 10K runs was fun, even at my slower-than-a-turtle speed.

If six miles is a hoot, 13.1 miles would be euphoria, right? Close, actually. Finishing that half-marathon course last Spring provided an amazing sense of accomplishment, one I definitely wanted to repeat. It’s easy to get out of the habit of regular jogging though, so I registered for the May event in October. I figured that making an early commitment would ensure that I would keep running all through the winter. The weather hasn’t been very cooperative, however. Too messy too often. Too many unexpected ice patches and inconvenient snow mounds.

So instead of jogging I have been doing interval training on the treadmill, which is supposed to be a good way to pick up speed. Interval training means alternating a couple minutes of slow walking with a couple minutes of sprinting at one’s highest possible speed. I can keep going like that for 30 minutes, max. Since it takes me a whole lot longer than 30 minutes to run 13.1 miles, that kind of training is not going to be enough. Hence my determination tonight to head for the indoor running track.

My goal was six miles. I was only able to manage four. Pretty good, actually, considering how boring it is to run round and round the same track like a mouse in a maze, and also considering that I was jogging at the end of the day instead of the beginning. My body strongly prefers to exercise in the morning, as early as possible. I know that, and usually don’t even try to run or work out at night. That email about the marathon inspired a brief temporary insanity, however, which is why I was at the gym this evening instead of sitting at my computer. And why I didn’t finally begin to write until 9:00 p.m., have only been able to manage a short and very boring blog, and am now going to sign off and go to bed.

My apologies to all. And a promise of better reading next wee …zzzz….zzzz….zzzz…..

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