Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Running Games

I haven’t run in 12 days. Ouch, that hurts. Unless you count my attempted run this Sunday – which totaled to a 1-miler plus 4 miles of walking and crying along the Georgetown Canal. Oh man, again, that hurts. (If you don't know why, read this post).

But I’ve been trying to keep myself sane – lots of walking and guest appearances in a couple spin classes. Due to the fact that I’m too cheap to buy a gym membership, I use the workout room at work – aka fine for treadmills, but the jenkyest bike ever! Ah well, desperate times call for desperate measures…(Thank you Jaffar for those wise words. Picture me stroking my imaginary beard right now. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, go watch Aladdin and get back to me.)

 Anywho, I can’t help but spend my day fantasizing about the runs I could possibly be doing right now. Let’s play a game, shall we?

If You Could Be Running Right Now, Where Would You Be?

After much deliberation, I have come to a decision. Are you ready for a trip into my imagination? (Don’t be afraid…I’m not as crazy as I sound!)

Picture early morning, lightly foggy, the parking lot at Mt. Tam in Marin County on a weekday (this part is key. Weekends = bikers. I hate bikers!). It’s cool enough not to sweat excessively, but not so cold that I have to wear long-sleeves. I’m thinking December, so the grass will be green-ish (rather than the yellowy-brown that characterizes California in the summer).

For those of you who don’t know Mt. Tam like the back of your hand (aka everyone except for mi padre), there are 3 lakes – two of which are circumvented by trails. So you start from the parking lot between them, run up to the upper lake (about 2 miles around), then figure-8 to the bottom lake (about 4 miles around). Repeat as desired.

The trails are narrow, with a variety of ups and downs, but nothing too extreme. All around it’s quiet. I think I would like to be doing this run with a friend – so quiet except for our chatter. The only people we see are the occasional dog-walkers, or pairs of housewives out for a hike.

Sounds lovely, doesn’t it? Just a nice long run. Followed by a satisfying breakfast, a big cup of coffee, and potentially a glass of eggnog.

Welcome to my happy place.

On that note I will leave you. I will not be blogging for the rest of this week, considering it’s Thanksgiving. Hope you all have a fantastic holiday. See you Monday!