Hot Hal's advice

The idea of running a marathon has settled into my brain. I'm great with it. I love the look on people's face when they realize that by saying that I'm running a marathon essentially means I'm running 26.2 miles in one foul swoop. "Oh that's great, good for you" they say - although their faces can not hide the "what the hell kinda freak is she" look that they inevitably give me. But explain that I'm running my first and, quite possibly, ONLY marathon in Paris and their expressions change. I imagine that it is a hard idea to get used to that under normal circumstances, people travel to Paris to visit the Champs, Eiffel, Notre, Louvre, Mona, etc.... but hardly a single person can say, "Yeah, I'm going to run the marathon, and then enjoy one heck of an after party with a group of people that I haven't seen in nearly 20 years." Again, insert the "what the hell kinda freak is she" expression. It's a fun story to tell. I'm still sorting through my marathon book by Hal Higdon (aka Hot Hal.) My favorite section, for the moment, is the 10 truths about marathon achievement. In it, there are numerous quotes by people who have trained for and completed various marathons. Today, there are two quotes that I enjoy relating to:
"I enjoy knowing each week that I run further than ever before in my life. That really motivates me to continue the training." I can say that I enjoy knowing that I am currently running further than I ever have in my life - it feels good.

"Those lonely runs became the glue to my day. The marathon merely served as the impetus to get me out there." How true, how true. The marathon is the reason I get out there every day, but the running every day has brought so much fun and consistency to my day. While my training partner is in Italy (HEY PARTNER!!!) I can't continue leading you to believe that I am running my myself. For almost two years now, I have been working out with a former student, now colleague, of mine. Poor Chrissy will probably be ready to run the marathon herself if she continues to keep up with me. She is constant! She is there every day! While I'm running on the treadmill, she's walking on the treadmill next to me. While I'm running on the treadmill, she's doing circuit training with another friend of ours, Emily. On my 'days off' Chrissy and I do light weight work for the upper body. Chrissy and I have a blast chatting through our workouts - she really should come to Paris.

Anyway - I must stop blabbing. I had a great workout today. The new sneaks are feeling great. I must concentrate more on stretching better. You keep reading - we'll keep running.