Road Warrior

I was in Dallas, TX this week.  I must confess it was the first time I have ever been in to the Big-D.  When we landed the temperature was 90 degrees with 70 % humidity.  How do people live there?

I was there for a one day conference.  We arrived mid-day on Monday and left late Tuesday evening.  While most of my co-workers closed down the hotel bar at midnight, I hit the hay at 10:00 and got up at 5:15 for a seven mile run.  My behavior was looked upon as odd and almost unacceptable.  It makes me wonder, in what kind of sick, twisted world do they live?

The wind was howling and there was a spectacular lightning storm while I was running.  The sky was electric.  For those of you who have not been to Dallas, it is flat.  The only hills I saw were where the roads went under or over other roads. 

There was a Good Morning Texas segment for the local Metro PCS Marathon.  This race used to be called the White Rock Marathon, which was named for the White Rock Lake that the course ran around.  The race isn’t until December and they have already started hyping it.  Denver could learn from that. 

It is fun to run in different cities.  It gives me a feel for the location.  That was not the case this time.  D-Town sprawls across nearly 400 square miles.  It is difficult to get a real sense of the local flavor.  I ran 3.5 miles into the wind and came back with a nice tail wind.

I am feeling a little let down after the Colfax Marathon.  It is difficult to get fired up about training without a clearly defined goal.  All the training we did this past winter had a purpose.  Now that reason has passed.  I sure miss the camaraderie of those long runs at the REZ this winter.  I feel lost.  I have headaches, muscle aches, a loss of appetite, I feel generally weak, I am confused and irritable.  I got a fever, and the only prescription is more marathon. 

And so, this week I celebrated National Running Week by registering for the Denver Marathon which will be run on September 22^nd.  I feel so much better already.

Also, I bought a new pair of running shoes.  Thursday morning I ran in my New Balance 730s, size 13 EE.  It is a minimalist shoe with a sock-like fit and is fairly lightweight at 7.3 ounces.  Now the hierarchy of shoes shifts and the oldest pair goes in the trash.