Change of Pace

It's hard for me to believe that it's been almost six months since I last toed the line in a race. My marathon was way back in mid-October and I guess that finally getting that magic sub-3 out of my system satiated whatever competitive appetites I possess. The Canyon hiking saga in December probably contributed to keeping those racing instincts at bay as well. I think this may be just about the longest I've gone without running a race since...well, maybe since I was nine?? So now that I'm less than a week out from my big return to the world of starting guns and ChampionChips, I'm actually feeling quite...anxious.

Fact is, I'm pretty flummoxed as to what I should be expecting from myself. I'm been keeping to a fairly rigorous training schedule since January, but only in terms of mileage, not speed. This will be my third 60 mile week in a row, but today's 9-minute paced 17 miler left me absolutely knackered. (maybe something to do with three 60-milers in a row...?) Very few of my runs have been much under nine pace actually, so the idea of abruptly requesting my tired legs to churn out 13.1 6:40s seems terribly unrealistic. But all of this disciplined LSD must have prepared me for something....just what though, I haven't a clue.

I've got a week to taper and ponder and see how my legs respond to a little well-earned rest, so I guess I'll come up with some sort of a plan before next weekend. And maybe I'll get lucky like the last time I decided I was ready to race again -- another blizzard will blow in to New York and make this quandary go away.

I keep coming up for the idea for this post while I splash around my usual 2.5 mile circuit of the bridle path on especially cold/wet/dismal mornings, seeing not another soul beyond a few bedraggled dog walkers. It's already composed in my mind...here I am in one of the biggest cities in the world; running though that cities largest and most popular park space; doing laps around one of the most trafficked exercise paths in the world and I'm able to cover five entire miles without seeing even ONE other runner.

That's how it goes in my head anyway, but without fail, with half a mile to go, some other bundled up jogger passes me from the other direction and my blog entry melts away into the nearest icy puddle. That happened today as well, but I have nothing else to write about, so my one little fellow runner will get her fair credit for being out there in chilly slop along with me. It really wasn't that bad, but I guess enough people thought it looked unpleasant enough that they made other plans.

Besides, I think I really needed that run today. This week has been a rough one at work, full of unpleasant and sensational stories about white men and black women finding it impossible to get along and communicate in civil, respectful ways. We think we've come a long way in the country when it comes to matters of race and gender, but having to deal with both issues at once apparently still throws people for a loop. Outside of that, one of my colleagues that I really like and respect was fired for plagarism, so I'm feeling shocked and sad about that. AND I've got some worries related to my visa application for an upcoming vacation that I really, really need, so I'll be terribly disappointed if that falls through.

The good thing about all this is that it keeps my mind off of the half marathon on Saturday, at that at least is something of a relief.

Meghan remarked recently that everyone and his mother/dog was running on her trail the other day, but I have to respectfully respond that she should try running with everyone and his mother, dog, horse, mother-in-law, second cousin (thrice removed), ex-girlfriend's twin sister, accountant, barber and middle school principal. That's a closer approximation to what the Central Park Bridle path was like this morning. Actually, you'd have to also add in a couple busloads of Japanese tourists, a sorority's worth of women in sundresses and high heels and twenty to thirty six-year-olds learning to ride their bikes. And imagine that all of the above have cameras and are prone to stopping abruptly in their tracks to photograph the cherry blossoms.And honestly, it wasn't that bad. It's hard to complain about much of anything when the sky is blue and the heady purfume of the sugar magnolias spins you around and dips you into the intoxicating tango of this long awaited, desperately longed for, abrupt arrival of spring.

Actually, I have a feeling I'm going to be missing the meandering hordes tomorrow morning, since an even worse obstacle is scheduled to descend upon the park....a presidential helicopter landing. There was already a huge police and secret service presence at the north end of the park this morning, so I knew something was in the works. It's odd to turn the bend in the path to be confronted by a crowd of large men in suits standing right there blocking your way, but I guess Mr. Bush is doing some sort of appearance at a school in Harlem tomorrow, so the north meadow baseball fields must be the closest place you can land a helicopter. Just for the practice landing they blocked off the east side of the bridle path, so I've got to imagine that tomorrow will bring even more restrictions. Perhaps a good day to run in Riverside Park instead, methinks. Or had I access to some form of teleportation, Yellowstone National Park!

So the whole presidential visit thing wasn't that big a deal after all. The NYPD let me stay on the dirt path that passed by the helicopter landing zone for three circuits without saying a word. On the last loop there was an assemblage of about 50 officers, all somewhat menacingly resting their right hands on their guns, but besides that it was pretty much business as usual. They also had kind of a cool portable air traffic control tower on a cherry-picker-like truck that I'd never seen before, but I didn't get to see it put into use.

My mother and I are now both officially visa'ed up for our trip on Friday, so it's a huge relief to have that worry taken care of. Of course now that I've only got a couple days of work left until I leave, I'm motivated to do absolutely nothing! Today I've read the latest New York Magazine, printed up a walking tour of Miami, researched the history of Castro's regime and now of course I'm blogging. In my defense, I do have a bunch of phone calls out for producers with research questions, but there's no doubt I already have one foot out the door. Part of the problem is that I'm also really achy and tired from trying to cram in most of my mileage for the week before I leave. Three days into the week and I've already logged 41 miles! I know that's just begging for an injury, but at least I'll have more than a week of shorter runs to allow myself some recovery.