Laziness pays off

For a week with almost no working out, I have a surprisingly large amount of stuff to talk about. First, the no working out. Yeah...that was a little disappointing.

After doing that 11 mile run last Saturday morning (at a surprising sub-9:00 pace), I kept slacking off, until Wednesday, when I was determined to get to the gym and do hill repeats. I did...sort of. I guess you can't really call them "repeats" when you only make it through one before you stop to cough half a lung up.

Methinks I may have overestimated how fast to run in a hill repeat.

After that I again slacked off until the sun went down Saturday night. Only then was it dark, cold, and rainy enough to really enjoy a 12 mile run in Central Park. There's something oddly serene about being one of only a few people running in Central Park the night before the NYC marathon takes over. There's also something a little terrifying about it. It's a good thing cops drive around often. I'm pretty surprised I got through a 12 mile run with virtually no working out the entire week up to that point, but I'm not one to question miracles.

In an effort to avoid another week like the last one, I've already gone out since this past Saturday's long run. Today I ran a 9:00/mi 10K around my neighborhood.

Speaking of the NYC marathon...it was pointed out to me this week that I have a wedding to go to the night before the 2010 marathon. Unfortunately, that means that I cannot run the 2010 NYC marathon, as I had been planning to do for some time. Instead, I'll finish the races that I need to guarantee entry, and I'll defer the guaranteed entry to 2011. In the meantime, I plan on attempting a triathlon or two in 2010 to stay in shape.

Speaking of having to cancel on marathons, Jews for Jogging endured a pretty big scare this week. Seems Beth's firm has been working on a big case for a couple of years, and the trial date is currently set for January 11, the day after the Disney marathon. For a couple days, we didn't know if Beth would have to skip some of the event weekend or bail altogether, but now it looks like she will be participating.

Also this past week, I submitted my recommitment form to Team in Training. It showed that I've met at least 25% of my fundraising goal, and binds me to raising the rest of the goal in exchange for reserving spaces for me in the marathon, at the hotel, on a plane, and at the various TNT events throughout the weekend. The Illinois chapter's recommitment deadline isn't for another couple of weeks, so Beth hasn't done hers yet.

Finally, today's pet peeve: drivers who keep their brights on in the face of a pedestrian. Don't get me wrong, I understand the substantial benefits of increasing a driver's field of vision with an oncoming pedestrian. Still, once you've established that there is a runner/walker in your way that you need to avoid, keeping the brights shining directly in their face is more than a little annoying.

Anyway, that does it for me. Look for the next post, when I will (hopefully) have some information about an exciting fundraising event you might be interested in. See you next week.