At the beginning of February my marathon training program was going really well. My miles had been creeping up steadily and I hadn’t been injured. My hamstrings were taught as a kettle drum, but I thought this was something I could manage. My long runs were getting longer and my right knee wasn’t bothering me. …
Category Archive: Running
Jan
15
Commitment
When you’re in junior high you’re afraid to tell your friends you like a girl because… well you’re in junior high. They may not like her, it may not work out, she might dump you. At the end of the day you have to live with yourself, and you have to make a commitment with …
Jan
04
Gear Review 2007
Had my first sub twenties commute of the year. I felt much warmer than last year. “Ninjaclava”:http://www.outdoorresearch.com/home/style/home/headware/cold_hats/balaclavas/87060 from Outdoor Research was a plus, as were the “Cyclone Booties”:http://www.pearlizumi.com/product.php?mode=view&pc_id=50&product_id=527547 from Pearl Izumi. However as I had some new gear on that seems to be working out, I thought I would point out a few losers from …
Oct
09
Runner’s Isolation
There is no garland of ivy leaves for the average runner. Each mile is its own reward. If you make it to 26.2 someone *might* tell you “great job”. But you must want to make it the distance on your own. No one can do it for you. You might have training partners, you might …
Feb
10
Let’s call this the comeback, again
Ran 13 miles for the first time since the fifth 3rd 15 mile race in April 2005. Recovery from injury gets harder with every year. Not that I am an old man by any stretch. But I am not a 19 year old soccer hooligan anymore. If I fall it takes weeks to come back. …
Feb
06
How thick is your ice?
I was running last night in the dark. Led only by the dim blue glow of my headlamp my shoes crunched noisily into the snow. It was the kind of crunch that is painful to hear, because it is like stepping on dry chalk. I tried to run fast to warm up. I could feel …
Sep
08
I am my Father’s son and you are a runner
Ran 6 miles in 49:55 yesterday. I hit it out of the blocks up and down windy Kalamazoo hills until my breath came in ragged gasps. I didn’t want to stop, every hill I saw, I wanted to paint my foot prints on, burn the rubber down to say “I ran this hill at top …
May
23
The ode to John Grady Cole
I used to think that every word out of my mouth was funny, wise, or whimsically beautiful. I used to feel impervious to criticism. Participating in writer’s groups and workshops will steel you for some pretty mean shit. But the idea that you have something worthwhile to say that other people would be interested in …
Mar
05
Top of the Hill
I used to get up early with my father on sunday mornings. He would load my bike in his mazda wagon and we’d drive to downtown Clarkston. We took a circuitous route through some neighborhoods near the mill pond. Why he chose that route I don’t know. I would ride ahead of him most of …
Jan
30
The ghost of the county road
I broke the two mile mark at about 16:03, feeling happy and content in sunshine. I took off my jacket and tied it around my waist. Just as I began to think about Grandma Cecelia this somehow synchronized perfectly with the beginning of a Sigur Ros tune. I think this one was Milano. I was …
