2.26.2007

utterly ridiculous

scheduled for 13 mi run on sat but the rain was oppressive and steady. decided to push it to sunday. sunday am it was sprinkling and had a limited window due to a brunch w/ a firm start time so i headed out. about 4 mi in it began to dump on me, buckets and buckets and i had do some quick calculations, deciding whether or not to continue.

i elected to go home rather than risk getting sick again.
i guess that's for the best
but i will certainly feel the burn on my upcoming long runs

2.21.2007

training run 2/21/07

6 mi
nice enough outside. Ran straight up stark to the tabor reservoir. circled a couple times and it was time to come back.

2.20.2007

return of The Return

sat. morning the sky was blue and the birds were chirping.
buds are blossoming in laurelhurst park and floral whiffs were swirling.
[no really, they were].
it was a fitting day to run after nearly 2 wks off. spring in the air
the return, the rebirth, recharged and effervescent.
only did 6 miles but felt great and strong like horse.
margaret and maxwell sauntered over and I was able to run with him for awhile
and then pass him back to her when the going got rough.

today was cold and bleeding rain but ran anyway for 3 mi and felt great.

aside from the running this wknd saw multiple movies
in prep for the oscars. notes on a scandal, last king of scotland
all the nominated shorts (live-action & animation), and pan’s labryinth. also, saw
casino royale last night too just because. Last king was impressive
and not just b/c of F. Whitaker, though yes he was amazing.
I loved Pan’s Lab too. Heard some lukewarm reactions but it’s
a stunning film, in the best possible sense(s).

oh, marg & I also both
separately returned to the studio. first time in many months
for either of us. we both felt recharged by it. exciting.

and managed to have a great dinner at paul/chloe’s and
w/ my parents too. on different nights obviously.

2.12.2007

onward and onward

didn't get to that maintenance run. nor did i get to that 10 mi wknd run. was wiped out, flattened, couched by malady. it seems like i avoided marg's flu but instead have been fighting an on-again/off-again type of cold over the past several wks - as evidenced by the blips in my training. jeez louise. went home sick from work on Thursday, called in on Friday. it was at its worst this wknd. starting to feel better today.

walked to the laurelhurst yest. and saw the fountain, which i'm not quite sure how to evaluate. love d. aronofsky and love any type of studio film that takes chances but this is a film that features a brain tumor so i can't sink backward into anonymous viewership and make good/bad proclamations. parts were very emotional for me but i'm not sure if the whole thing works or not. it might. need more time to mull it. bonus: tracking shot replicated/borrowed from ikiru - [right after watanabe is diagnosed w/ stomach cancer, he soundlessly pads down a tokyo street, sparks flying from behind some random shop - here w/ h. jackman]. very cool.

2.07.2007

potent realization

last night was going over my training schedule, checking out the upcoming runs and distances and making mental plans as to courses, times, dates, whatnots when i realized something: i have miscalculated and am a month ahead of schedule.

that is to say, i'm on week 14 of training but i should only be on week 10.

this mental lapse can only be attributed to all the radiation i had in '05. frequently i struggle to summon a word or make a basic calculation or remember a date and things get fuzzy. of course, marg says i'm misremembering there as well stating that my command of all things numerical has always been - being kind here - an atrocious and feeble thing to behold.

ah, anyway. so it's good. gives me a little breathing room. allows me to, say, not run yesterday or today and to sleep in and get some rest, which i've needed to stave off
whatever flu/bug/virus it is that's being swapped from maw to gaping maw around town.
hoping to get back to a maintenance run tomorrow and then this wknd revert backwards to wk 10 of training. also, in fighting this thing my motivation has gone
screwy. not uncommon to burn out. hopefully these couple days off can recharge, renew, remotivate.

i'm almost up to 3 grand in fundraising. people have been amazing.

2.05.2007

15 miles - 2/3/07

slept in a little on sat. AM, which was very nice.
hit the road around 9:30, knowing that I’d be out there for about 2 ½
hrs. usually, you lock into a zone and the time goes but sometimes it can get slightly boring. to counter this possibility I loaded an f scott Fitzgerald short story onto the ipod shuffle (The Bridal Party). I didn’t know when it would come up but since each part of the story takes close to 30 minutes to narrate it would be a good buffer and time-eater. as it happens, part one came up w/ about an hour left and part 2 came up on the run home, that is I walked through the front door and it was still continuing. it came from a stack of books-on-tape that MJ had burned for us for the drive out to Boston (and the drive home for that matter). I will re-up from that package for the longer runs.

mm was sick w/ flu all wknd so we had a low-key time. had to cancel brunch w/ rob & bev, unfortunate b/c about a yr ago we cancelled brunch w/ rob & bev b/c I was ill. anyway, got to see most of season 6 of the sopranos which was very awesome and a couple of movies that were so-so. oh, and I finally got to try that crockpot. thanks mom.

2.01.2007

2*1*07 training run

3 mi. clear skies but real cold.
these little runs are becoming easier and easier
and hence more fun. didn't bring maxwell and
when i returned home i found that he thanked me by eating out
the lining of one of my slippers. tragic, as i loved those slippers.
they were a bday gift from mm. sigh.

a good morning though. spirits high. not only did
we go to a winning blazer game at the rose garden
w/ joe & corinna last night (spotted this homemade sign:
"Blaze the Nugs") but we got word from tokyo
that Fritz & Angela's twin boys were born and all's well.

also,
mm and i spent the AM frantically getting together
our application for a writing retreat, a place
where we can finish our book. deadline to apply was today.
fingers crossed