TITLE: The Transition Back to Normal
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: November 02, 2006 7:18 PM
DESC:
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BODY:
On Sunday I had a beautiful morning for my first run since
returning
from OOPSLA.
That run marked four weeks since my marathon in the
Twin Cities,
and it was my longest since then, an enjoyable twelve miles
over my favorite route. I threw in an 8-minute mile near
the end, but mostly I took it easy. My body reminded me
that I hadn't run that far in a while.
Running in Portland
was as good as the conference itself. The cool morning
temperatures were perfect, and we had clear skies and no
wind all week. I even started feeling a little bit of
speed coming back, but my legs felt the increase in mileage.
Dare I consider a spring marathon in, say,
Green Bay
or
Madison
or
Cincinnati?
Winter training in Iowa would help me to keep my mileage --
and my expectations -- down. I could run for fun. My virtual
training partner from Arkansas would appreciate an opportunity
to train in the South's most comfortable season!
I know, I know. "Normal" and "thinking of doing another
marathon" probably don't go hand in hand for most people.
But I have a strange desire at this point to run one for
the sake of running it, not for a time. I haven't given up
on getting better; I just realize that that isn't the only
thing that matters.
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