Remember Beth? I don't either.

Sure has gotten lonely over here at Jews for Jogging. I'm sure Beth has all sorts of excuses for why she didn't work out today. She'll probably say something like, her transportation from New York City to home got canceled, and she was stuck. Well, I'm not buying it. First of all, I know she has workout clothes and shoes with her, and her membership at Bally's gets her in the door at their NYC locations. Second, my transportation from New York City to home got canceled too, and I managed to work out. Granted, hers was a flight to Chicago, delaying her trip back by a full 24 hours, and mine was the express train to Long Island, and I was able to take the local that left 10 minutes later. Still, it was pretty rough. I had to spend my train ride home on a local train, with the common folk, most of whom, it must be assumed, are lepers.

Anyway, after navigating an LIRR schedule filled with delays and cancellations to get back to Great Neck, I headed out to the gym, and with no running yesterday, I decided to get on the treadmill today and kick it up a notch. I did 4 miles again, and since I ran it at a higher speed than usual with Beth on Saturday, I now know I can do it at that speed, and there's really no excuse not to, so I did it the same way today. But today, I added in that 1% incline that I had mentioned to Beth, to more accurately simulate running outside instead of on a treadmill. It definitely makes a difference. After 2 miles, I wasn't even sure I'd make it to 5k, let alone my goal. But somehow, I got there. Now I guess I'll have to do 4.5 at some point in the next week, especially since I'm signed up for an 8k race a week from Saturday.

An observation I had today: People always tell you the positives about getting in shape. You'll lose weight, you'll have more energy, your posture will improve, all that kind of stuff. Nobody ever talks about the negatives. For example, today I was getting ready for work and noticed that I'm halfway between holes on my belt. I had to decide between being really uncomfortable or feeling like my pants were going to fall off. That's just a lousy choice.

And yes, I know, everyone who took the Bar last week is only thinking one thing after reading that first paragraph: "Leprosy? That's a loathsome disease. You just committed slander per se!" Well, if you are thinking that, I have good news for you. The test is actually over now and you don't have to think that anymore. But I also have some bad news. You thought about the elements of defamation while reading a blog about running, so you're kind of a loser.