Commitment. Dedication. Whatever.

When you turn the TV off, you turn the world on. Perhaps the key is committing to what you really want to do. It's not the obligation or the deadline, it's waking up every morning and thinking about what you can do next, and the possibilities are wide open.

Right now I'm living my ideal Sunday: coffee outside with KFOG's Acoustic Sunrise playing in the background (all radio, even local, is streamed over the Internet at my house), a bit of cleaning, and later an afternoon in Golden Gate Park and Haight Street. I need some new guitar strings and maybe I'll find something interesting at Amoeba Records. The DJ there always has something on tap. Last time it was Taken by Trees, a 45 single.

Of course a vital part of my ideal Sunday is resting, relaxing, and generally feeling good, made possible by a Saturday morning long run. Twelve miles yesterday, I'm finally back in the range of the long distance runner. It takes hard work to relax this much.

Within it all, I keep thinking about what I've committed to do, how much I want to do it, and what do I most want to commit to next? The possibilites are wide open.

Rock n Roll Seattle

So I got talked into running a fourth marathon. I can accept that. I've been slacking, I can accept that too. Now, after fighting a wicked cold I'm pretty much starting from my base, so I better get serious about training from here on out.

Rock n Roll Seattle Marathon

This looks like it could be a whole lot of fun. Miles and miles of fun. I had my first marathon. I had my on-my-own marathon, I had my worst marathon. Now it's time for my best. It's going to take time, dedication, willpower. It would be a good idea to give up television for a while. I need to start now, and before I put it off another minute I'll say it again.

Right now is the only time I ever do anything.

!

Philosopher/Bureaucrat

I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

-Ecclesiastes

Objective consideration of contemporary phenomena compels the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account.

-George Orwell

It's Beginning To Run A Lot Like Christmas

Running on the Town Lake trails under a gray drizzly sky, church bells ringing Christmas songs. It's cold and wet but I'm nice and cozy in my oompa-loompa style hooded jogging suit. My core is telling me I haven't been doing this enough, could be yet another New Year's Resolution. But for now it's just the trails, the runners, and the promise of a peppermint mocha afterwords. It feels good.

More Marathon Musings

It was like running on another planet (a planet with ten times Earth's gravity and half as much air), a lovely country road on a beautiful sunny day, just the way it always looks when suddenly everything is different now. Each step sent a new shock wave rolling up my body.

Live intensely.

There comes a place where you have only six point two miles to go. I can run that distance in 40 minutes, jog it in an hour, or keep walking until I get there. For most of the race, though, you're not there yet.

We pass the Lone Star Brewry. Twice. This truly is a test of willpower.

We run past the old Spanish missions. Prayer might help, but I can't risk putting stress on my knees. If you think about it, you do have time to run in and say a quick Hail Mary.

When I look back now, I think about crossing the finish line less than I think about all the rest of the race, beginning, middle, and end. Every mile has its own character, its own challenges.

The Sabermetrician in Me

Yes, it is a baseball term, and I don't know if there is an equivalent for running, but I discovered my time is better than third place in the female age 12-14 division. That's right, I only got beat by two 12-year-old girls! Something to be proud of, I think.

Half Marathon PR - It's Official

My finisher certificate from the San Jose Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon came in the mail. My offical time was 1:45:29. I placed 189th (out of 766) in my division, 938th (out of 4222) among men, and 1174th (out of 9625) overall. I'm very happy with that result.

My "age grade" is 57.2, less than 3 points below "local class," the lowest grade. Presumably if I don't run fast enough to be in a grade, does that I'm just casual runner? Judging by the results, there's a lot of us.

I like half marathons, and I'm thinking if I can run an 8:03 pace, I can shave a few seconds off and run in the high-7s.