Running

So I am not a runner but I have been running a lot recently. It started when Amalia was a few weeks old. I found that Amalia was happy to walk around the neighborhood and by her being outside, Lisa could sleep. I got tired of walking and started running. Amalia seemed to like it so I just kept going. Eventually I did the Blacksburg Classic 10 mile race during February'07 and averages 6:46 miles. Then I did the Draper Mile in August'07 in 4:56. I was happy but needed a new challenge. I was thinking of doing a marathon but the thought of running 26 miles on asphalt wasn't too appealing. So I decided to try and do an ultra-marathon. I trained pretty hard (lots of 35-40 mile weeks) and did the Holiday Lake 50K++. The pluses are because its actually longer than 31 miles, it ended up being 33.5 miles, almost all off-road, and with 2000' of climbing. It took 5:25. A long day and it hurt bad. I ended up 80th out of 257 starters and 234 finishers.

I'm still not sure I actually like running. That said, I have come to the conclusion that its the most basic form of sport. Long before modern sport and civilization, man had to run to get his dinner and escape predators. So selection favored those who could run fast and long distances. 

Steve Prefontaine once said something to the effect that he ran races, not to see who was the fastest, but to see who had the most guts. I guess I run to see how tough I am.

This is funny as hell but all too true (has bad language). I think it applies to Americans!