less than two weeks until the marathon and i am, of course, nervous. i fear that it will not go as well as last year. why? because i am so very lazy. i joined a running group this year and they run quite a bit slower than my normal pace, enough that i had a hard time running at my normal pace on my own and this sapped a lot of the fun out of running for me. i should have realized it sooner and done more about it, but i didn’t, so i have been spending the last two weeks trying to ‘find’ my old pace, the pace where running is a joy. i just hope i find it in time.

weniger als zwei wochen bis zum marathonlauf und ich bin, natürlich, nervös. warum? weil ich extrem faul bin. ich habe mich einer laufgruppe beigetreten und ihr lauftempo ist einigermassen langsamer als meine. Langsamer genug, daß ich schwierigkeiten gehabt habe meine normales tempo zu halten, selbst wenn ich allein liefe. Diese situation hat den Spass des laufens von mir genommen. Ich hätte es früher bemerken sollen und etwas dagegen getan, aber das ist nicht passiert und ich habe die letzten zwei wochen bei dem versuch mein altes tempo zu ‘finden’ verbracht - Das tempo wo laufen spass macht. Hoffentlich finde ich es rechtzeitig.

The guy i trained for the marathon with last year (well, ‘trained’ may be an exageration - we ran together at least 3 times in preparation for the marathon, though ) moved to San Francisco last fall. Even before he moved, he was telling SOP and me about a race there. A crazy race where people dress up and drink the whole way and just play: 12K of craziness. We are trying to figure out a time to visit them this year and thought the run might be fun to do while we’re out there, so i finally googled it last night.
“How do you think it’s spelled,” i asked SOP, “B-E-T-A B-R-E-A-K-E-R-S ?”
“Yeah, that sounds like it to me, possible B-R-A-K-E-R-S though.”
Well, english, like all languages, is pretty amazing and while the name always sounded like “Beta Breakers” to me, it turns out the name is “Bay to Breakers”. Should be fun regardless of the pronunciation.

Der Mann, mit dem ich letztes Jahr auf dem Marathonlauf trainiert habe (nun, ‘trainiert’ ist vielleicht uebertrieben. Wir sind aber wenigstens 3 Mal in Vorbereitung auf dem Marathonlauf zusammen gelaufen, aber), ist nach San Francisco umgezogen. Schon vor er umzug, redete er ueber einen Lauf da. Ein Lauf wo die Menschen sich kostumieren und betrinken und einfach Spass machen: 12K von Verruecktheit gefuellt.. Zur Zeit denken wor darueber nach, wann eine gute Zeit sei ihn zu besuchen und dachten es mache Spass den Lauf zu machen. Also, letzten Abend habe ich den Lauf gegoogled ( wahrscheinlich kein Wort, aber Ihr wisst was ich meine, oder?).

“Wie schreibt man es, desknst du,” fragte ich SOP, “B-E-T-A B-R-E-A-K-E-R-S ?”
“Ja, meine ich, aber es koennte auch B-R-A-K-E-R-S sein.”

Nun, Englisch, wie alle Sprachen, ist ziemlich wundervoll und obwohl der Name mir immer wie “Beta Breakers” klingt, ist er eigentich “Bay to Breakers”. Egal, es sollte lustig werden.

thanks for all the knitting project ideas. I really like the entrelac washcloths and have already done some ball-band wash-cloths, some using spider woman’s idea of the smaller versiom, which works well for me. I also like jessica’s recent post on the ganomy hat and think it would be great to make as a MS fundraiser beanie.

In real life, however, I have only started on one spider hat and am still working on my aran (about 1/3 of the way into the second sleeve). Saturday I ran a half marathon (2nd in my division, 17th in my gender), I just wish I had more time to train. Work has been sapping the life-force right out of me for various reasons. But I have been shooting (film) and am trying to get some pieces printed for a statewide exhibition coming up. None too sure that I will get anything in, as I am perhaps over-emphasizing the playfulness of art in the pieces I am submitting, but if they do not get accepted, I am really okay with it. I am sick of stuffiness.

But let me show you a beautiful thing i saw on my walk this morning:

and now it is time for bed. I hope everyone had a lovely weekend and that you were able to tell someone you love how much you care about them.

and neither did i.

I actually enjoyed the run, AND i did well.

One of the cool things about runs like this is they give you a chip that you place on your shoe. When you go over the start line your time is recorded and that is when the run ’starts’ for you. The chip was scanned at two other points in this race: at the halfway point and at the point where the 5K starts, i.e. 3.1 miles from the end of the race. When they post results, you can see your pace for the first half of the marathon, for the last 3.1 miles, and for the marathon overall. I am pretty happy in that i kept a fairly steady pace the entire route. I never walked, just ran, and felt pretty good at the end. According to SOP, i was grinning like a fool when i crossed the finish line.

I felt good after the race and still feel great. The only physical problem that is bothering me is a blister i got on my arch. I felt it coming, knew it would be bad, but was worried that trying to fix it would only result in two blisters instead of one. So, for now, i have one 1 3/4″ X 1 1/4″ blister under my arch. It could have been worse.

Interested in stats?

Chip time:

3:49:29

Chip pace:

8:45 (8 min 45 second mile average over entire 26.2 miles)

Place Overall:

309 / 1946

Place in age/sex division:

8 / 103

Place in sex overall:

58/818

1/2 marathon split (time to 13.1 mile point):

1:51:14

Pace to 1/2 marathon point:

8:29

Last 5K split (time for last 3.1 miles):

28:41

Pace for last 5K:

9:13

have i mentioned that i am nervous about the marathon? maybe a couple of times, even? ah well, it is true - i am nervous about the marathon.

i worry that i will hate it, or that i will trash my body, or that i will be so incredibly slow that the people in clown costumes will be passing me by.

and i worry that i will not have the correct music.

The salt lake marathon allows you to listen to music. SOP thinks i am probably the only person to be listening to an audio book. So, interspersed through “Sofies Welt” from Jostein Gaarder (one of my faviorite books), i will be listening to the following songs:

set…

1. There’s a girl, The Dittybops
2. Believe, Lola Rennt soundtrack
3. Sister Kate, The Dittybops
4. What you see is what you get, Save Ferris
5. Running two, Lola Rennt Soundtrack
6. If I Were God, bandits soundtrack
7. Na Und?, nena
8. Miles Away, Goldfinger
9. Nothing to Prove, Goldfinger
10. Turn it up, Save Ferris
11. What Happened to you?, The Offspring
12. Verb - that’s what’s Happening, Moby
13. Just a Girl, No Doubt
14. Nothing to Prove, Goldfinger
15. Excuse Me Mr, No Doubt
16. 1-2-8, Mighty Mighty Bosstones

I’ve got over 6 hours of material. I hope to need only 4 - 5 hours of it, but we’ll see.

go!