I...ran today?

My mantra for the last four weeks has been "I'm quitting. I'm detaching." There's nothing I do better than quitting.

Ok, that's stupid. When you've only seen 3 days with sun in a month, your brain begins to starve.

Sun is blazing today, calling me, begging me to be out under it. Grass is soft and spongey, not yet scorched by salt and permafrost. Even the pavement feels good hitting my feet, pounding my sore shoulders into a broader posture, allowing me some great big breaths and clearing my head for the first time in weeks.

Not saying whether this changes my feelings on an upcoming race. In all likelihood I will skip it. Running is something I have to do in my own time. I can't predict how I'll feel in a different climate 3 weeks from now. Just living in the moment and feeling ok about it.

I mean-4.5 miles (albeit there was some walking in there), that's not bad after almost a month off!

Incorporating strength and stretching

I'm grateful to a certain friend and his girlfriend for sending a Rodney Yee yoga video my way. I've had a number of setbacks in my marathon training. But instead of being fatalistic about this venture, I'm going to focus on building strength and agility on the days when running isn't possible*.

30 minutes of yoga after work is a gift! Yesterday I collapsed on to my bed and crawled out of my coat and boots, ready to decompress on the couch as usual. I had a thought though-I should do yoga-which I mumbled just loud enough for Zoe to hear. She made the finger in the air gesture and jumped up to start the DVD. At first it felt like she was merely excited to get me occupied so she could play her video game without interruptions for a while...but next thing I know she's standing in Mountain Pose in the glow of the tv. So we kicked some junk out of the way and did some serious yoga together. The cats really love this floor time. They hop all around us and even participate. I swear that Gus was doing a Child's Pose on command.

*I know this sounds like a whiny cop out. Running is always possible. Cory is the type of person who runs just to get places. Like from downtown to his house, more than once I think. But unlike all these ultra runners I read about, I allow myself some rest time. I work a physically demanding job. I walk 2 miles to and from my train. I cook, I coach my kid to do homework, I wash our clothes and this week I even folded them and put them away. I have a fledgling social life. And I'm enjoying all of it, I wouldn't want to cut into it much more with running. Maybe I bit off more than I could chew with this marathon. I guess I'll know for sure when/if I get there.