Weekly Update #2 - The New Years Edition

I hope everyone enjoyed themselves ringing in 2009. I spent the night (and weekend) with some friends in DC. While I didn't do any running outside, I definitely think it would be a great city to run in. Everywhere you go there's something, and when you have something to look out and think about, it makes running a whole lot easier.

Before I left town I did go out for a run and it just so happened to be my first run outside since the Jingle Bell 5K a few weeks ago and my first time running while it snowed. I was a little worried that my legs weren't ready for it yet, but it went smoothly. I've run a couple of times since then and still, the legs seem to be fine. While I remain a bit cautious, I'm a lot more optimistic now than I was just a week ago.

With that in mind I have decided what my resolution for the new year is: stop talking about injuries and/or any pain. (I understand that this constitutes talking about it, but once this paragraph is finished, there'll be no more). I realized that training for the marathon and actually running one isn't going to make your body feel great most days. In fact, I'll probably wake up every day for the next 3 months with some type of soreness. It's just a fact of life, and I have to accept that. Pain will come, pain will go (hopefully), and all the same I'll have to go running.

Moving on. I've just started reading What I Talk About When I talk about Running by Haruki Murakami. For those who haven't heard of him, he's a Japanese author and also one of my top 3 favorite novelists. His books are, to put it simply, totally engrossing. This one is a memoir and really describes his life as a runner, which he didn't really start until he was around 30, the same time he became a writer. It's an interesting read for 2 reasons: 1) As a beginning runner, him talking of his reasons and motivations and philosophy of running I find to be very insightful and helpful. 2) I like to write myself and here is my favorite author writing about the relationship between running and writing.

I'll probably have a more complete post on the book when I'm finished, but so far so good, which is just about the way I would describe the first half (time-wise) of my training, so far so good.