Random Ramblings

Had a conversation with my friend 'Massachusetts' Jim last week. We chat about running from time to time. He's run a few marathons including Boston, and other distance races a few decades ago. Though today he looks more like an old retired middle linebacker than a former distance runner. Started talking about training, and mileage; how hard it is or must be to put down weekly totals well over 100 miles like some primo runners do. He told me about the daily work-outs Bill Rodgers would do back in the 1970s. Run 10-12 miles slow and easy in the morning, then do a real hard 6 mile run with Randy Thomas and other elite locals in the evening. Used to do a loop around the area where Boston College is located. Anybody could show up and run with them at night Jim told me... of course, he added with a chuckle, hardly anyone could keep up.

Had the thought while finishing a longer run, that me or anyone else should never apologize for going all out, whether in running, or any other facet of one's life.

Ran a controlled harder pace Saturday morning. Did my 6 to 7 mile loop, the middle part of which goes thru the woods in the state park. Checked my watch back at the usual spot on the ramp going up the boardwalk and it read @ 49 and half minutes, almost a minute faster than my previous 'PR' for the loop. I use the term loosely as I'm not racing or going all out, plus I'm estimating the distance. A standard run done fairly regularly can be a good barometer of the shape i'm in at any time. Though the value of runs on an individual basis can be deceiving if based soley upon the time on a stop watch. I've seen it written (by whom i can't recall) that "perceived exertion" is a better yard stick, for it takes into account factors such as weather, mood, rest, what one ate for lunch, etc. Late Saturday afternoon I went back out again and did a real easy 3+ mile jog in the rain after lifiting some free weights. Some girl at a gas station called out "hey I know you must be cold,"..............."and wet," I called back to her from across the street.

Some times when I run I like to zone out and listen to whatever birds I can hear at the time. Blue Jays and mocking birds can be notoriously noisy; also around here I tend to hear alot of red bellied woodpeckers. Thier call or song that is, though i do also hear them pecking away at trees. Or its just a melodious cacophony of many feathered species. And for those of you who live on Pleasure Island, why do all those turkey vultures congregate on Monore between 6th- 7th streets? Certain days I have not only seen many, many of them in the trees beside the road, but a good half dozen or dozen of them on the peak of a roof of this one particular house. Would think this would be a bit disconcerting if I lived there.

A quote from Mark Twain I found in the book Dr. Sheehan on Running: "Anyone who has had a bull by the tail knows five or six things more than someone who hasn't."