1/2 Way to St. Louie...It's All Uphill from Here

Saturday, February 14
Nike+: 10.03 @ 1:23:02 (8:16/mile)
Weather: somewhere between 25 and 30 degrees
Gear: Tights, black long-sleeve shirt that Mary gave me, wind-proof undies, neon cap and gloves (no H20 bottle or gels)

I picked up Dark Horse and met up with Posscoon at the MKT trail entrance off of Stadium (MLK Memorial) at 8:30 a.m. Although the temperature was below 30, we didn't seem to mind. I think we've built a tolerance to our surroundings - particularly after running around the Burr Oak when the wind chill was zero a few weeks ago.
I didn't really prepare myself with an appropriate meal on Friday night, but I did eat a PowerBar on Saturday morning. Mentally, I felt confident that I'd do well on this run. And I did. I maintained an 8:16/mile for 10 miles which is pretty good for me. I attribute the faster pace to training on hills for the past 9 weeks and taking things a little slower the previous week. The hills have developed stronger legs and a slower pace on previous mid-week runs has allowed me to heal-up. The trail is almost completely flat and I'm sure my body noticed a difference. I ran this same exact route on September 2, 2007 - a week before I competed in the Chicago Half-Marathon - and at that time it took me 1:27:34 (8:44/mile). And then when I ran the actual Chicago race a week later, my mile average dropped to a 9:35/mile. In my two later half-marathons my official race times ended up being faster than my training runs. Don't really know how it all works, but those are the facts.
While Posscoon was calibrating his gear at the 1-mile marker, I passed him and he caught up with me not too long thereafter. His upper right leg was hurting pretty bad and he considered stopping. But then he said, "What does not kill me, makes me stronger, right?" and he took off. I wished him luck - it ain't easy to run when you feel good, never mind being in pain. At about the half-way mark when Dark Horse and Posscoon were on their way back, I slapped their hands. As the anchor man, I kept the torch burning, although I have to admit that after taking off my gloves, my hands did get quite cold later in the run.
I tried to keep my mind positive on this run. I see running as my time to escape - and that brings freedom to think about whatever I want to. It makes sense to tune into as much bass frequency as possible and ignore all the treble-some pitches that distract me from the task at hand. Enjoy the run - it just doesn't make sense to bring along a lot of baggage to slow me down. Nonetheless, some days are better than others.
I finished strong on this run and felt tired, but not exhausted. After a few minutes of chit-chat, the three of us loaded up and left the parking lot. Our sweat was beginning to induce coldness.
After I arrived home, I ate a quick lunch and packed up my photo gear to go shoot the MU-Nebraska basketball game. My legs were a little sore as I sat on the court, but not too bad. Once I got back home, I laid on the couch for a couple of hours and took it easy.
It was Valentine's Day and Mary and I had a reservation at Sycamore. I ate steak and everything was good, but not great. I think my expectations were too high. It was good to go out with Pookie Face for a nice dinner, though. Later in the evening, we had a fire and smoked up the downstairs room pretty good. I think there's something wrong with our fireplace insert, but eventually things aired out and it was all good.
This marks the halfway point in training. Nine weeks down and nine weeks to go. We've all registered (Dark Horse - you've registered, right?) and we've all got hotel reservations. Will we all make it to the starting line? What's in store for us in the next two months of training? I've got some fears when I think about it, but for the most part, I feel pretty good about the whole deal. Thousands, or millions, have run marathons before me. It ain't that big of deal. But then again, it is my first one. I told Posscoon that life is long. He posed, "I thought it was short?" I think it's both. And one thing is for sure - I don't get a re-do. This is it. Will I have regrets at the end of my life-marathon? Yes I will. But I'm trying to keep those to a minimum. As I continue to follow and to run the path that's ahead of me I keep in mind my 11th grade AP English teacher's advice: "Do well."
The ultimate race is with myself. Balancing ego with what I really enjoy is my current mission. And to right my wrongs. It may sound stupid, but recently I've been considering the anthem, "Pay it forward." Or as my mom used to say, "What goes around, comes around."