just happy to be here

It's been over two months since I last updated this blog, so why the sudden burst of motivation to finally write a new post? Well, the amount of shame I feel every time my last entry from the beginning of April shows up on the Gazelle home page keeps increasing, but also things have settled down a little recently. Sure, my schedule with the new child is still non-determistic at times, but Meghal is working occasionally now, and Alayna (our nanny) is helping on regular basis. This has allowed to at least think that I might be able to run on with some regularity. Also, after a similarly long break, Michelle updated her blog and I feel like that makes me look bad. (Apparently the Maton-ettes are playing with skunks these days.)

So about the running... A couple of two week periods where I've done absolutely no running finally ended up costing me a lot of fitness. For example, I showed up to a tempo run a week and half ago after not showing up for the previous two weeks' worth of workouts. My time was 21:40. I'm pretty sure that's only 20 seconds better than the very first tempo run I ever did with the Gazelles. (By the way, DV was present at that tempo run, and I think he ran exactly 21:00.) I went in saying I would be happy with a 7 minute/mile pace, but after finishing I backtracked and claimed what I really meant was that I'd be happy if I ran a single mile at 7 minutes or less. (My last mile was 6:50-something.) It certainly crossed my mind that a couple of months ago I probably would have run around 6:30/mile or so, but the self-pity didn't stick with me for too long. I've accepted by this point that I'm going to have work to get back to where I was, and (like the title of this post says) I'm just happy to be able to focus on running again. I actually feel somewhat excited about running, which hasn't happened in a while. And this is especially surprising considering this is such a miserable time of year to be running. Not only has it been hot, but it's been windy and dry, making for stifling, dusty conditions.

While I'm still missing a lot of Gazelles workouts, I'm trying to run when I can out on the Barton Greenbelt. There's a lot of advantages to this. First, it's a block away from our house, and the 360 entrance is literally connected to the parking lot of my office. Also, it's shady, meaning I can run mid-day, and the scenery is a little more interesting than running on Lady Bird Lake. Sometimes you get to distract yourself by thinking about things like, "what exactly is running in brush right next to me?" The main downside is that there are no water stops. The pace is always a little slower on account of having to watch out of ankle-tweaking rocks and tree roots, but it's an excellent workout because you're always having to lift your knees and my legs are often spent afterward.

This past weekend, I managed to work the greenbelt into my long run as well. Paul (aka Pablo Rey) agreed to meet me at Barton Springs and we ran out to just before Mopac and circled back. I had stashed some Gatorades near the 360 entrance to make sure we were hydrated enough to make it back. It was pretty uneventful except for "the web incident". When you run in the mornings on the greenbelt, you often find yourself running through strands of webs that have been spun across the trail overnight. In general it's just an annoyance. However, on this particular morning, I was watching the ground for ankle-tweaking obstacles and ran right through a large web which contained, I noticed at the last moment, what appeared to be a large spider in the middle. I reacted by yelping, falling on the ground, and frantically wiping at my head and shoulders in case there was a large scary spider on me. Paul gave me the all clear (he gave me the impression the spider stayed with the web), and I eventually calmed myself down and we resumed our run. I did make sure to be a little more careful about watching where I was going the rest of the way.

We finished our run at the Barton Springs parking lot, and it wasn't 9:00 yet, so hmm... how convenient, let's jump into the pool. (Barton Springs is free before 9:00 for those that don't know.) Is there a better way to finish a run? I think not. I was in such a chipper mood I jumped off the diving board a couple of times. I was diver in high school --- good enough to make it to the state meet, but not good enough to actually be competitive at that level. Anyway, I'm apparently very rusty because I did a one and half and was surprised at how utterly disoriented I was in the air.

I can't help but mention the European Cup. I've decided the European Cup is more compelling than the World Cup. First, all the teams are pretty good, which you can't say about the World Cup. (I mean, England didn't even qualify for the competition.) But the main thing is that it's all so localized, there there are real rivalries and the supporters are able to attend their country's games creating a really frenzied atmosphere. You can sense the passion involved when you watch the games. Anyway, how about those freaking Dutch? You've got to wonder what became of the formerly dominant French and Italians teams. I mean, I'm never sorry to see the Italians lose, but I certainly wouldn't have expected them to get spanked the way they did by the Netherlands. And France, they received an even worse beating.

And did anyone catch the Turkey-Czech Republic game today? I missed the exciting part (i.e., I watched the first 75 minutes). In the last 15 minutes, Turkey scored 3 times to come back from a 2-0 deficit. Or so I hear.

Anyway, now I'm babbling. I should save some energy for a future post.