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April 10, 2007
Resting
I am trying to rest this week. It's hard but it gives me more time to get other things done which is nice. On Monday I only worked out with the middle school students which did not amount to much, maybe one or two miles and some drills.
Today I ran a mile with the middle level students, did five hill repeats, and some drills with the athletes. I then ran five miles at a good pace with one of the high school students. Following this I ran another 4 miles with my friend Jen. I then called it a day.
I tried out my sister's marathon racing flats on the run today to test for Boston. She mailed them to me for good luck at Boston. She ran them at the Napa Marathon where she broke three hours. I usually wear a very old pair of Asics light weight racing shoes that are from the very late 90's. They may just be a very basic Asics version of the waffle. I have done a lot of races in these shoes, including the last few marathons. I ran the NY City marathon in these racing flats two years ago with no insoles. I realized this as I was running over the first bridge. I thought the bridge surface was especially hard and then realized I never put my insoles back in when they had gotten wet after one race. Needless to say I had some horrible blisters after this race and I usually only get very minor blisters which don't bother me at all. I was planning to use these shoes for the race because of their history and their lightness. However, after talking to Mark about it we thought a sneaker that is a bit sturdier may prevent my quad from getting tired compared to the lighter very old sneakers. I think he is right and I am going to use the new DS trainers that I got this past weekend. This was probably the biggest high light of my day today.
However, I had a close second. As I was leaving the post office today I heard someone knocking on my car window and trying to get into my car. Initially I thought it was a student I knew or maybe Mark. It turned out to be a very elderly woman; I looked around to be sure no one was after her because of the force she was using to get into my car. I opened the door for her and she jumped right in and said, "Ms, can you give me a ride to Price chopper". By the time she was in I had no choice. I have to say initially I really did not want to let her in the car because it is so unusual. I actually have a friend in the area who does not own a car and she car pools everywhere. However, she does not use this approach. I have given her rides on several occasions when I see her on the side of the street. Yet in my friends case it is different because I usually see her ahead of time and can make a quick decision to pick her up. This experience today was so different. I have to admit I felt like my space was violated and then I felt really selfish. I used public transportation on a daily basis when I lived in San Francisco and never was so concerned about my personal space. Yet, today, so quickly I felt like my car space became public and I did not enjoy the strong smell of perfume in my car and did not enjoy having to move all of my books that were all over the seat, she actually sat right on some of them. Within about two minutes I got over all of my concerns and shock and had a small conversation with the woman. She mostly thanked me and told me how cold it was outside. I started to ask her questions and she thanked me again and told me how cold it was outside. In the end I was really glad I gave her a ride and mostly irritated by my initial reaction. I don't usually think about ownership and space issues because these titles can bog a person down and can potentially be limiting. Yet today, after owning a car for the first time for two years, I realized how my point of view has changed. Interesting....
Posted by mary at April 10, 2007 10:57 PM
Comments
Mary
Your taper sounds like it is going well. Wow, that's a weird car-jump-in story. I would have felt a bit violated too. Is Mark still planning on meeting you guys w/10 miles to go? More soon. Liz
Posted by: Liz at April 11, 2007 12:06 PM
Enjoy your taper Mary. Get ready for a FANTASTIC race. I'll be rooting for yoU!!!!!
Posted by: Jody at April 11, 2007 8:35 PM
May I add my good luck wishes?! Good luck Mary! I will be following along on Sunday!
I would have been weirded out by the lady jumping in my car also. Regardless of the fact of who the person was, unless it was an emergency, it seems she needs to exercise better manners in soliciting for a ride! Crazy story!
Again, best of luck this weekend!
Posted by: Meghan at April 11, 2007 9:47 PM
are you excited for boston or what? you seem like a wise , experienced runner! you can do it! good luck this weekend!
Posted by: John at April 12, 2007 12:44 AM
Go Mary GO! for the marathon. I really enjoyed reading your lady-in-the-cold story. It gives a realistic dimension to the difficulties of doing the right thing as a function of risk. In this case, getting the poor lady out of the cold for a no-big-problem favor for her. In two words: constructive paranoia. Paranoia not as a condition (not fun as heavily charcterized by fear and anxiety) but as a query tool.
If you get good enough (by practicing) I suppose you can learn to figure situations fairly reliably...and avoid the embarassment of justifyably (sp?) not desiring to be hurt or disappointed in the inevitable clash of cultures, values, personalities, ideals, education of daily living. Of course, knowing all the while there are few if any certainties out there. Go Mary, GO!
Posted by: corrado giambalvo at April 12, 2007 4:16 AM
hey mary! good luck in boston . . . i think those racing flats are going to be magic :)
the car story is definitely odd. i would have freaked out - even if it was an elderly woman. i was driving through the west side of chicago once and a man tried to jump into my car, but it wasn't because he needed a ride - he actually wanted the car! i rocketed through a red light . . . so, in terms of space and public issues, cars are a touchy subject for me ;)
HAVE FUN IN BOSTON!!!!!!!
Posted by: bridget at April 12, 2007 12:33 PM
Yeah - best of best wishes for Boston - have you had enough time to train in the DS trainers for that to be okay? I'm sure you know best! I'll cross my fingers against any Nor'easters wreaking havoc. Have fun, smile and run fast. Not necessarily in that order. :)
Posted by: Kendra at April 13, 2007 4:37 PM
I'll be thinking of you tomorrow Mary! Have fun and race tough like you always do! :) Best of luck!!
Posted by: at April 15, 2007 4:19 PM