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March 01, 2006
Gotta Fly
I just (finally) made my reservations to fly home for spring break. Every so often I get it into my head that I absolutely need to do something slightly crazy (only slightly crazy, because I'm perfectly sane). I'm not sure where the compulsions come from, but once they appear, I can't shake them. Capitulating, however, has led to some of the most rewarding experiences of my life -- 6 weeks in the Himalayas, running marathons, etc. The latest must-do on my agenda is hang-gliding. With a little research, I found a school a couple of hours from my parents' house in NY (I think it's in the Catskills region), so I'm planning on spending a couple of days over my spring break taking lessons (and getting some good runs in in the mountains) and hopefully by the end of the summer I'll be able to qualify for my certification. I'm so excited to... fly!
Speaking of flying, my run today... just kidding. No pedestrian flying for me just yet. I decided to put off my run until the evening because I was fasting for Ash Wednesday and I didn't want to do anything early in the day that would get my metabolism cooking. I felt a little wimpy thinking about how Hicham El Guerrouj set a world record a couple of years ago in the 1000M (?) during Ramadan. But, on the other hand, I have a secret belief that people who run at that level are to a certain extent super-human. By that I mean just stronger in mind and body than the rest of us (or than me, anyway).
I kind of outsmarted myself: knowing that it was going to be tough to get myself to go on the treadmill tonight, I made plans with one of my classmates to meet at the gym at 9:30 for a treadmill run. As it turned out, she had a stomach ache (reported by her roommate, another classmate of mine) and so didn't run. But just making the plan got me to the gym. I ended up running and talking to my other classmate, who was walking, until she finished her workout. As much as I hate the treadmill, there are certain advantages: namely that I can run with someone who is walking.
I felt surprisingly good -- didn't feel yesterday's workout at all. I set the treadmill to 7:30 pace and just trundled along. Having V. (my classmate) there made the first 20 minutes fly by. After she left I put my headphones on and zoned out for a while... until, being my klutzy self, I hit the "stop" switch by accident. I do this all the time and it drives me insane. Why? Because it always happens at some strange number like (today) 4.66 miles. So, then I have to start all over again and run 3.34 miles. What am I supposed to do with that? Part of what I occupy myself with on the treadmill is fractions of distance remaining and time remaining. .34 is very hard to play with. At 2.84 miles, fearing with the stopping and everything I wasn't going to fit the whole 8 miles into an hour (yes, the treadmill does seem to bring out certain obsessive tendencies), I dropped the pace to 7:00. Then, since I was feeling good, I dropped down to 6:40 pace for the last 3/4 of a mile. Definitely fit it into an hour.
So, all in all a good day. Back on the path to sanity. :)
Posted by alweiss at March 1, 2006 11:36 PM
Comments
Doesn't it just feel great when things sort-of fix by themselves, without noticeable intervention, and smoothly take us where we feel happy and alive? Moments to be treasured, like a good trail on a particularly blissful running day.
Have fun flying: T (Total time of run) - 2t(time of 1 foot contact with the ground - S(total stops) = RFT (Running Flight Time)...albeit at low altitude, but Flight nonetheless... corrado
Posted by: corrado giambalvo at March 2, 2006 01:45 PM