4/20/11 Wednesday

It's kind of amusing, to me anyway, that I've decided to get back to my online running log on 4/20. The universe works in mysterious ways. So... here we go.

I just got back from Boston to watch Kirsten run in the Boston Marathon for the 12th freakin' time in a row. That girl is an animal. I'll touch on a race report, from my perspective as a spectator, on my other blog, "Smoked Fish," at some point soon.

I've been running fairly consistently for the past few months after a very lazy, sloppy winter where I gained 12-15 pounds. I'm now 51 years old since April 5th. (I'll also touch on my birthday workout – 51X400 – on "Smoked Fish as well) And I can confirm what I've always heard when I was younger: It is indeed far more difficult to regain fitness than it is to maintain fitness, especially once you get past 40 years of age, much less past 50. To borrow a line from the movie American Flyers, "Once you've got it up, keep it up." I've lost most of the weight. And I feel like I'm actually training again rather than suffering. I've signed up for a marathon in Allentown, PA this coming September, mainly because Kirsten needs another Boston qualifier before registration opens up again. She's anticipating Boston will fill very quickly again despite the measures that the BAA has taken to avoid the 8 hour closure they experienced this past year. What that means to both of us is that we will have to train for a marathon through the summer here in New Orleans. It's some dumb shit. I know. But I told her that if she really wanted (or really needed) to do it I'd do it too. I don't recommend training hard through hot summers. But here we go.

AM - 5.61 miles easy
45:04 • 8:02 average pace
Reily to AP • 2 laps on the dirt
8:30 start
78 degrees & very humid
Minimus

I felt pretty good. I was a little out of sync, probably from traveling, not sleeping in my own bed, the time change, being out of my normal rhythm, and from getting only about 6 hours of sleep last night. Despite the average m/mi pace most of the middle of the run was in the mid 7's. Today officially starts my summer marathon training. Yeah you right!

I'm really enjoying running in the NB Minumus. I'll do a full on review at some point on "Smoked Fish."