3 weeks until 2 years

This picture has been sitting in the upper right hand corner of this blog since the middle of 2005. I never really gave it much thought. The race was the Mad City half marathon, or whatever they were calling it then, in Madison, WI. I had spent an entire winter rehabbing an Achilles tear in my right leg and finally I felt strong enough to enter a real distance race. I was relatively fit the day of this race and planned to run it smart.

Smart. I love that word as it applies to running. It can mean so many things, so I guess I will devote a later entry to that.

I ran this race at a conservative pace until Mile 9 (of 13.1) and then picked it up and managed a final four miles at just under 7 minute pace.

The picture above was near the finish line and the grimace on my face honors the winter off and what I thought was a long climb back to get to the starting line. Perhaps, what it really was, it now seems, was anger -- in advance -- for the long, two and a half year, layoff that lurked 3 weeks off in the distance.

Anyone would be pissed if they knew that's what lay ahead.