Bailing Hay

Like Weezy F Baby, and Hova before him - I do these blog posts in one take. Like the former has said "Through the pencil and leak on the sheet of the tablet
In my mind 'cause I don't write ish, 'cause I ain't got time", I pretty much do these with-out rewrites - cuz Like Jigga man "I don’t do too much blogging
I just run the town, I don’t do too much jogging." But despite not blogging a lot or "jogging" a lot, I do run quite a bit. At least during these waves of dedication I seem to not mind undertaking, aka marathon training. And while I've been on these running 'kicks', I've let this blog serve as a glorified running log. The blog is actually perfect for a running log. Anything that is known as "log" should mesh well into a blog. Just natural. But with that, it takes extra time and effort after the run to record my thoughts, times, pace, whatever onto this blank viral pad. Of course, I realize I could utilize such a site that is set up and intended for recording runs, where I would have to do is essentially "paint by number", but on the rare occasion when I simply am not just regeretating numerical facts from the days effort, it's nice to have a little freedom to "freestyle" if you will, about whatever it is I'm typing about. And in this last paragraph - I'm not sure really what that is! One take, baby, one take.

Definitly on runs, being alone and useually not with company or not wearing headphones, and especially at night when there isn't much to look at, I do get the sense I'm shedding stress, and clearing my mind - obvious to the fact when I start thinking about how I might construct my next post. Sometimes I do layout in my head what I'm feeling and what I'm thinking about DURING my run, so I can go back and broadcast those sentiments when they were most true, later. If I didn't sort of capsulate the energy and mood and thoughts of the run in my mind, and notate it so I can recall it later - I would loose the spirit of the moment, which would be easy since I don't really post these entries until the day or so after. If I could type right when I come in the door - they would be most true, but given that I have a life, and like Jay Z and Wayne, I don't do too much blogging or write stuff down - I am blessed with a good memory, and you are cursed to have read two paragraphs or nonsense. I guess what I'm trying to say is true love is blind. (haha)

Recaling on the mental filing the night's run, I remember telling myself from recent runs - runs that have come in the last couple of weeks when I simply feel like I'm doing chores rather than relishing in getting my body fast - I set my mind on auto-pilot and got out the door and didn't think about anything until I was already 100m. from my house. I really didn't want to dwell on the fact it was cold, already dark at 5pm, and raining. Conditions that don't really get your fired up to go put in work. I numbed myself to the frustrations, and knew that soon I would be warmed up and feeling better. That happened just before mile 2, when I realized I was starting to enjoy the exercise. At this point, I was already soaked, but I was clipping off 7:30 miles and starting to appreciate the time alone in the quiet, unwinding from the day. It's over the next mile I started to recall my last few weeks of running, trying and chronical my workouts and regularity with my training. With the marathon only 2.5 weeks away, I was looking for confidence builders that I was going to be ready to go. I know that I have not been as dedicated AS POSSIBLE, but isn't there always a little more room for improvement - and if not, do you have anything else to show for your time except running? Given that, I did start to get pumped thinking about what I have done with long runs, workouts, and started to feel satisfied - while also trying to plan out the last couple of weeks to maximize the time that is left.

While thinking about all of this during the run, I then shifted from feeling like it was a chore, to enjoying the moment, and being thankful for the last few months I have thrown myself into this - and the resulting fitness it has gotten me in, as well as the kinship from my running buddies, and the centered well being it has given me those late afternoons and early mornings. With a baby on the way, I really don't know the next time I will be in the place that I am at, and I really am thankful for everything, and for the good health God has blessed me with. Along with the Thankful spirit of Turkey Day, perhaps a voicemail I got late in the afternoon from my friend Mike Mitchell telling me he wasn't going to be able to do Thunder Road due to the diagnosis of a stress fracture, made me more sensitive to the good fortune I've sustained. **I feel for you Mike, but I know once you do cross that finish line later on down the road, it will be all that much sweeter. Thanks for the encouragement and partnership over the last couple of months during our training. I'll be running hard out there for you too man!**

With good vibes going, I thought of a saying that was thrown around the old Broome-Kirk gym, where a little italian flat-topped man would say things like "the hay is in the barn" on pep talks before Southern Conference meets. What I think he means is, once you get to that point where you can't really improve given the limited time, you just have to trust that the "hay in the barn" will sustain you - and by sustain you he means carry you through the race. I am not at the place where the barn doors have closed, but I definitly am tying up those last few bails of hay and getting them in the barn before the doors close in about a week. And so, given that this was just a maintence run - not a work out and not very long either - and that it was not idea conditions, I felt like I was just out there bailing hay....doing what I needed to do, a responsible farmer, getting the farm ready for the winter, aka Thunder Road.

As I've said in previous entries, once I'm out there - or at least finished, I never regret that fact that I went for a run. Sometimes you just have to put yourself on cruise control and not think until you are away from your starting point, and the natural endorphines are slowly released, giving you that clarity and calmness.

So for days like today - when I really feel like scribbling some non-sense, and trying to capture a few feelings of being a distance runner, I'm glad I have this forum to over-express the details of the run. And if there are 37 spelling and gramatical errors, and if this were a paper that I received back from Mr. Hicks, my highschool english teacher, I'm sure it would look like a Tarintino movie - blood colored ink all over it, just remember - ONE TAKE.

Speaking of details...

7 miles
54 mins