I Get the Official 'Weenie of the Month' Award!

I'm downgrading. I was talking to my PT yesterday, and she brought up some really good points. Hey, we've got to talk about something to distract me while she digs deeply into the !finally discovered! real problem area, right under the major quad muscle.

"Look. You've done how many miles recently? And you are still feeling a bit of soreness? You know that you won't be able to race well with such a low base of miles.

"Sure, you'll be able to finish. That's not an issue. But how sore do you want to be afterwards?"

I've got a bad memory. A really bad memory. That is likely why I've run the types of races I have and why I have the body art that I do. I remember only the positive aspects, dumping the negatives out with the names of people I've only met once and what I did last week. Yet, all of a sudden, I remembered something.

"Do I really need to pee? Or can I wait a while? It's not so bad." Thirty minutes later. "Yeah, hey, you. Either get your friend to hold my hand while I'm in there or get out of the handicapped stall! I need those transfer bars!"

This dialogue actually happened in my head after one of my first marathons. One where I didn't train particularly well or hard and certainly didn't put in enough miles. For me to remember this meant my thighs must have really hurt. Really hurt.

Hawai'i is no longer my goal race for the second half of the year. It can't be: I'm just not ready enough for it. And even if I don't do NY, whatever marathon I might do would likely be in the same general time period. Not having as good a base as I usually would, I'm going to have to train much harder for it. And being sore enough to need a bathroom buddie for two weeks really doesn't seem like the smartest way to start that training.

So, the half it is. And a slow half it will be. But it should be fun to be able to look around and enjoy the scenery. And I will be able to pee in splendid solitude afterwards.


Why so long a post? Well, I'm such a goal-driven person. That's probably why I have the degrees that I do and why I do what I do, both for fun and for profit. I've got to convince myself that downgrading is the best option that I have.

After all, November isn't so far away.