The Sound Of Silence

So I've been a very bad blogger, and haven't said anything for a few weeks. The sound of silence CAN be a very good thing, though, and not necessarily indicative of troubles. It's probably time to admit, though, that I've been VERY slow at getting that disposable camera with the Imogene photos off to be developed ( and try to not laugh TOO hard at the fact that somebody actually used a disposable camera). Alas, the photos will not be in THIS blog post but I hope to have a few up in the next week-a mere month after the race.

As for what I've been doing while letting my blog collect dust, it's been a little of this and a little of that. My Imogene recovery went pretty quickly, which was my experience last year too. It was a couple of days sweating bullets and grimacing as I descended stairs backwards, finally working up to the exquisite pain of a recovery run or two, and then a full-fledged return to running. I've really mixed it up with running surfaces over the past week, which was something I was decent about, but I threw in a track workout along with the treadmill, trail, and paved path mix. I'd kind of forgotten about that place during the summer months, but then remembered how it's a great tool for me locally because of its proximity to the dance studio. I was able to drop off a kid, head over to the track two blocks away, and knock out a decent tempo run under the stadium lights. I'm thinking I'd like to make it a regular stop now for the fall and winter running schedule, and use it for a variety of speed work.

I also volunteered with my oldest daughter at one of the aid stations for the run portion of a local Olympic distance triathlon, the Western Colorado Triathlon. We manned the last aid station, blasting some good tunes and passing out drinks, a mile before the finish. I must say that I might be feeling the itch to multi-sport. I know, boys and girls....beware of running! It's a gateway sport that looks innocent enough, but just leads you down the path to...MORE SPORTS.

Of course-I have the little problem of not owning a road bike, and let's not talk about the last time I seriously swam in a pool, let alone open water. Everyone looked like they were having SO much fun through all the late race pain, though, and I think I might have to consider training for the local sprint tri that takes place every spring. I can't ever see myself going down the route to serious, full-Ironman training, but I like the idea of getting to the point of being able to swim 1500 meters, bike a little under 25 miles, and run 10K (in this case, it was a trail 10K at the end of the race we were working). I was on the developmental swim team when I was a kid, and despite my turtle-like pace, it was still a lot of fun for me. So, that seed's planted. We'll see how it grows in the next year.

While I've been away from the blog, I also took care of a little matter about a little race up in New England-I officially registered for the 114th Boston Marathon! I am not official until my name is posted to the entrant list, which should happen in mid-October, but for all intents and purposes, I am IN! Today, I was just thinking to myself about the 5K race I will be running on Saturday in which I also ran two years ago, and how the then-5K PR pace of 8:21 per mile felt exhausting. I started thinking about Boston around that time, but was also thinking to myself "Why? Why do I think I could ever do a marathon at about the same pace when this nearly killed me?" I'm still kind of pinching myself, and am looking forward to geeking out when I get the official confirmation of my registration.

So, yeah. I've got a little race this weekend. I swear I hate these 5K's and the way they make me feel like I've got to puke, yet somehow I keep winding up at 'em. I'll have that in the morning, then the wedding of a friend here locally starting in the afternoon. This is not going to be a formal affair-any time you get an invite that reads " 'Til An Explosion Do Us Apart," I think you're pretty much guaranteed a good time. The bachelorette party was over the weekend, and we'll just casually gloss over any details from that little shindig. Then, Sunday will bring a very early long run before an early once-over cleaning job at the dance studio in time for the Moscow Ballet's auditions for local children to participate in their stop here on their annual Nutcracker tour. I am not wild about the noon on Sunday auditions, but since we're "four hours from nowhere," as my Dad always says, I guess we're lucky they even found us on a map.

I'm hoping that's the end of the excitement for the weekend, and that I can engage in a few minutes of mindless navel-gazing before the new week begins, letting visions of unicorns dance in my head.