Week 7: Weak in the knees

Tuesday: 2 miles
Wednesday: 5 miles
Thursday: 4 miles
Sunday: 16 miles

Long live the republic
Tuesday was Town Meeting Day, the annual demonstration of civic virtue when people gather in elementary school cafeterias and town halls to elect new town officers and debate whether the town really needs to buy a new fire truck. New comers think of it as a quaint and tidy throwback to a Norman Rockwell yesteryear; old timers know it for being a day of spirited (sometimes boring) debate and occasional hurt feelings. It's a day I look forward to but this year it left me with enough time for only for a two-mile run.

Listening recomendation
Wednesday and Thursday my time management skills lapsed and I did both runs late at night. On Thursday while I ran, I listened to wonderful radio program from WNYC, "Studio 360." This episode was from their series, "American Icons" and it explored the history and cultural symbolism of the Lincoln Memorial. Long after my run was finished, I was still stretching and listening to stories about architectural meltdowns, public hatred of Lincoln before his death and the decades that intervened before the memorial was built. (Studio 360's American Icons program on Moby Dick was also fantastic. I actually wanted to read the book after hearing that show.)

About the knees
All week long my knees have felt creaky and grouchy. Walking up stairs, standing up after a movie -- these movements have my knees grumbling for attention. I don't think there's anything actually wrong with them, they're just being whiners. "Suck it up!" I tell them. I hope they listen, especially on Sunday.

The long run: 16 miles
I decided to prepare for this run in a more thoughtful way that I have approached the recent long runs. All day on Saturday I'm going to eat really healthy, nutrient-rich meals. I'm going to bed really early and waking up early enough to eat breakfast and digest it before I set on the run at 9:30 a.m. This is the plan. We shall see.

16 miles - check that off the list
It wasn't easy, or particularly fun, but I did it! The plan was realized (despite a little Daylight Saving confusion) -- I ate a good breakfast, fell back asleep, got up and ran. The course was charted out by a fellow Marathon 101-er; it was hillier and she was faster than I was accustomed to, but I finished about 20 minutes behind her. Several hours later, my knees are really stiff, but not in pain exactly. I think I'll spend tomorrow's day off stretching and icing. It's also time to buy a second pair of running shoes to break in over the next several weeks.