Catharsis

Eight days remain until THE Richmond Half Marathon. Which I am racing -- or at least running, to some degree. Am I ready? No. Do I care? No. The jury is still out on whether or not I will actually do a final "long run" this weekend. My life is fairly unpredictable these days, so I'm kind of just rolling with the punches (of which there are many).

In spite of all of the negativity, I had a very nice run yesterday evening. I've really been enjoying running with my new iPod shuffle, and I would like to relay a short anecdote from yesterday's 6 miler: As I was running to a mix of Circa Survive and Conditions, the acoustic version of Conditons' Keeping Pace with Planes began playing. This song is a good bit slower in tempo than the other songs on the mix, so it was nice to -- keep pace -- with. The lyrics to this song have always been very meaningful to me, since it was my go-to song as I struggled through an injury-laden lead up to my first ever Boston Marathon in 2008.

The combination of the haunting acoustic guitar, relaxed pace, and lyrical genius left me coursing with adrenaline. Never before have I understood Max's ability to run with one song on repeat for miles on end. Yesterday, I found a song that I could run a 100 mile ultra with. A precursor to Boston Marathon training 2012?

I also found a slogan for said race's training (also stemming from a Conditions song):

Instead of taking action, why don't you begin routine?
And instead of being tired, why don't you become machine?

"Workout" #2 this morning. Scheduled for 2x3 mile @ 6:45 pace. Let's rock and roll.

Ant