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Just a recap of the end of the week before it gets too far into the new one. I never did a 3M race report, and by now it’s irrelevant. Of course, all of this is irrelevant, so what’s it matter?

Friday was my first day off in a couple of weeks. I’ve been trying to up mileage for some reason and have been taking fewer days off. I used to run 5 days a week and am trying to run every day now. Why? Maybe because I want to get faster and I read that more is better. Maybe because I enjoy it. Maybe because I hope the pain will just go away.

Saturday totaled 11 miles in 1:26. Sort of an odd run in that I started with a group doing the Scenic loop, but I wanted to stay on the trail to appease my legs, so I just went out the first 2 miles with them, then looped back to RunTex while they took off on the cruel cold asphalt. Covered the 4 miles in about 32 minutes I think, starting at 9:10, then 8:20, 7:30, and finishing around 7:20. Is that 32? At RunTex I met Pat and Andre and we headed off on the dam loop. I had a soccer game to get to, so after 5 miles I took off and did the last two of 7 in 6:54 and 6:15.

The boys were spending the night at Jessica’s sister’s so Sunday morning we went for a leisurely bike ride (13 miles/53 minutes) and then down to the trail to meet a girl from Jessica’s class for a “off pace” (haha) 5 mile run (55 minutes). That put my weekly milage at 41, which is laughable for many but long for me. And that 55 minutes was awfully slow of course, but it’s exactly what the doctor ordered. It was pleasant to jog along like that, although I often maintain it’s more difficult to run slowly than to run faster. The bike was pleasant too, as we stopped to chat with friends, did an easy loop of the veloway, and I did one moderately hard spin around the veloway before riding home. Aren’t you excited to know such much about my life!?

Today, Monday, I ran the Cap 10K course solo (no one else showed up for the weekly firecracker) in 46 minutes. I intended to do it easier, and it never felt like I was running fast, but it sure felt like I was laboring over the middle portion. Indeed, it was a confidence drainer for the upcoming race. When running solo you sure notice every incline and bump, and Enfield seems to have a lot of those.

Later in the evening I swam 1000 meters. Still not sure about the triathlon situation. I’m weighing the joy involved versus the training required versus the possibility that I’ll stop improving in the run (i.e. getting faster).

Wilke tomorrow and I probably shouldn’t do it. My knee hurts more than usual, but oh well, it’s been sore/painful since the first of the year, so what’s new?

Finally, as an update to the little league t-shirt episode, at the last practice they handed out the shirts (to everyone but us) and the lead mom told Jessica something like, “oh, so you’re the family” and pointed out some sheet where our names (and ours alone) were highlighted in yellow. Joshua’s lip started quivering and he said, “mommy, I really want you to have a shirt too.” So Jessica will probably end up getting one. Which reminds me of something I read on a message board I frequent. This guy from India wrote, “Japan and the U.S. are the two most conformist societies in the world.” Hmmm…..

Also, after the t-shirts were handed out the coach came up and asked, “we’re getting the boys’ names embroidered on the back of the caps. Is that ok with you? It’s only $5. Are you sure that’s alright?” Did I call the embroidery or what?