Location: Waugh Bridge

Distance: 5.5 mi

(see Dec 6 log for more info)

So, after nearly a month hiatus, I’m back on the running bandwagon. Partly because the Houston Marathon is only 37 days away, and partly because I continue to eat like I’m training for a Marathon (minus the actual running), but mostly because of the effective but well-intended guilt delivered by Coach Steeeve at the Dec 4th Strider Holiday Party. “Wasn’t the New York Marathon on November 4th, exactly a month ago? Yes? Well, your excuse for not running expires tonight at midnight.” Sure, I would have been thrilled to hear him say, “Sure, take another week off. Oh, and have some more pie while you’re at it,” but of course he was right - it was time for me to start hitting the concrete again. I had emailed him earlier in the week, asking if I should do the Full Marathon or Half Marathon, given my longer-than-intended (but oh, so enjoyable) running vacation. Steeve was encouraging about doing the Full, adding that it’s hard to lose fitness quickly…just like it’s hard to gain fitness quickly. So, I went for it - I paid the $40 confirmation fee for the Full Marathon, resolved to stop eating so much crap, and am now looking forward to fitting into my clothes again.

In reality, I don’t mind the running at all - in fact, I LIKE the running. I just like the sleeping in and eating lots of yummy crap too. But in the end, the running will win….though, this time, I’m forgoing my usual policy of no alcohol until after the Marathon. Four months without beer/liquor kinda sucked.

Wednesday night’s run was my first real night back on SMART. I had run once after New York, but that was mid November. The scheduled run was the basic Jackson Hill –> Waugh Bridge 5.5 miler. Overall, an uneventful run, except that I (half) joked that there was something wrong with my Garmin because the run felt MUCH longer than 5.5 miles. That chocolate chip cookie I had at 5pm came back to haunt me at mile 4.