Bullets

I have a bunch of random things floating around in my head so will do the handy bullet list today.

• This Sunday I once again joined the running club and we covered about 5 miles.  I'm excited because I found a great hill which I'm going to train on when I get into the thick of things for Big Sur.  It's pretty steep and I think about a mile long (exact measurement to be determined later).  The nice thing is there's a dirt path along the road so I don't have to pound the pavement going down.  And of course, running up it will be the real goal.
• I joined Netflix for a trial period.  Two movies I recently watched were "Running on the Sun" and "Run for Your Life."  Both were good and I recommend them.  "Running on the Sun" was really fascinating.  These people run Badwater which is something like 135 miles in scorching heat.  If you've ever wanted to see people truly pushed to their physical limits, this is it.  I will never complain in a marathon ever again.
• This deserves it's own bullet point because "Run for Your Life" made me really want to run the NYC marathon again one day.  I participated in 2005.  It was the NYC Marathon carrot which turned me into a runner.  I set the goal of running the NYC Marathon when I could just barely eek out a 5K.  It took me two years, but I got there.  I will say with 100% certainty that my experience in the NYC Marathon was the crappiest run of my life.  I hit the wall very, very hard.  To say I enjoyed myself the last 1/3 of the race would be a flat out lie.  I like to say I no longer fear death because of the NYC Marathon.  I felt SO incredibly bad, there was a point if I had dropped dead on the spot I really would not have cared.  I was uncharacteristically angry when I finished (even though I set about a 30 minute PR that day).   I was angry at the crowds.  Angry at the other runners.  I was angry at everyone (this personality change was by far the worse thing about my experience...I've had some painful runs that left me feeling elated at the end)!
  
• I swore I would never run the race again.  This was not a fair statement because really, the race itself was great.  The crowds at NYC are incredible!  The race was well organized!  After 2005 I had guaranteed entry into 2006.  I entered mainly because it was my backyard marathon.  I developed horrible shin splints prior to the Safaricom Marathon in 2006 and this ended my NYC 2006 dreams.  I deferred entry to 2007.  But when the time came to register for 2007, I don't remember why but I didn't do it.  And I really regret it now.  For one, I lived 4 blocks away from the shuttle bus pick-up and a little over a mile from the finish line.  Do you know what it would cost me now to stay in midtown Manhattan around marathon time?  Also, I had guaranteed entry.  Now I'll have to enter the lottery and stand less than a 50% chance of getting in.  But I think enough time has passed that the horrible memories from that day have started to subside and I'm beginning to see the race for what it really was.  I'm not sure when but sometime down the road I'll throw my name in the lottery.  It probably won't happen for years and by then it will be a great ode to the city that made me a runner.
  
• There's a present I want to buy for someone on Amazon and the total is $24.99.  I need one more cent to qualify for free shipping.  I have spent the better part of the day trying to decide what other thing I can buy to get the free shipping.  So far nothing comes to mind.  If you know of anything on Amazon that is $1 and qualifies, please let me know.
• I usually get Mario some sort of chew toy, treat or bunny toy for his Christmas present.  This year in addition to something he can actually appreciate I have found the perfect present for Mario (which is really a present for me in disguise since Mario could care less about it).  Stay tuned.
• Have you guys heard of the Plus3Network?  You sign up for free, log miles/activities and big corporate sponsors donate money to charity.  Pretty neat.
• I had a nice 5 mile run today.  I only got out there three times this week so decided not to try for six today.  I figure I have another month of base building before I start some sort of structured plan for Big Sur.  So far so good.  I'm slow as sludge but getting my endurance back.