LAST Long Run Before Marathon - Kenyan Way

“You want peace, chase down your war every morning and get it out of the way.”
So says my ever-present and usually annoying alter ego.

4:00 a.m. (hell even 5am for that matter) always sucks. Always. Always. Always. It is never going to be one of those things body or mind naturally do (on a weekend when there is no good reason really), and I do not give one single flying #*$@ what anyone says. As long as we’re all clear on that, we’re good.

See, I have a big problem with things and people who are not straight forward… if something is going to suck like a Hoover, just give it to me, don’t wrap it all up with a frilly little bow the shade of someday and call it communicated. In this respect, I do not like surprises.

So, folks, here it is for you - you NEVER get used to getting up at {insert ungodly hour here} in the morning for anything, in fact, unless your house is on fire, all of your receptors and responders will not, in fact, engage in any sort of conscious behavior for at least 20 minutes. Do not drive during this time. Do not leave your house during this time. Do not go up or down stairs during this time. Trust me.

There. Said. Done. Moving on.

I am not weak. I am not faithless. That said, I have earned the right to bitch a bit about the first few miles of a run (or the last couple for that matter). ESPECIALLY that early in the morning. On a Saturday (or a Sunday). When it’s awful, icky, humid ass weather.  Or its not (as was the case this morning, with low humidity, no wind to speak of and a nice chilly 32 deg at the start, with 49 deg at the end).  Or that I am just plain ass tired.  Or just because its the weekend.  I mean really?
So – let’s recap:

-- Getting out of bed to do anything at 4:00 a.m. will, until the end of time, FORever, damn near cause me to become violent. Depending….

Get up.
It sucks.

Then it doesn’t.

Go train.
It sucks.

Then it doesn’t.

Always, in that order.

No games. No bows. No tiaras.

In the words of Nike:  Just Do It.

And thats exactly what we did this morning...12-23 miles of the marathon course covered, which included the Westpark Bridge (not so bad after all this time).  21 miles total.  Was supposed to be 22, but F a bunch of that :)  After 21, we just said OK, thats enough.  I had 3 previous 20+ milers under my belt, not to mention the 17, 18 and 19 milers along the way.  We ran the first couple nice and slow before starting with the group, then started out.  We decided to run the long way around the park to add on a mile and then finish up around base instead of doing Allen Parkway.  I finally figured out what was wrong with my Garmin but not till after daylight so I dont have splits; I was only able to monitor pace.  The history was full.  Go figure.  As I monitored the pace fluctuated between 10 and 10:30's so all is well. 

Now we rest.  Recouperate.  Re-energize.

And on race day, may my preparation meet the task at hand, and with that hand, I hope to hand the marathon a big old helping of whup ass.

And a partridge in a pear tree.