Day One...

...and sixteen to go before I face the pavement of the streets of Houston.

Where 3 years ago I ran my first ever marathon.  Where I hit the wall so bad that I don't remember a couple of miles.  Where I trained completely alone, and went into it thinking I knew what I was doing.  Where I did OK I guess for my first time and finishing 29 minutes before the cut off time. 

And where I found something that I love to do.

I've come a long way since that January day in 2007. 

I have no natural talent.  I was never a runner.  And some may still not consider me that, but I would call them wrong. 

Sometimes its not the legs that make you a runner, but the will.  And the heart.

And because of that I am a runner.

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Yesterday was the last day of the year, and the decade.

I met up with Bob to run an easy 6.  We met at Jackson Hill and ran the short Heights route (to 20th and back).  10:23 pace kind of easy, but it was tough for me.  I have not been eating as I should have, so as to avoid the weight gain that sometimes accompanies the 'taper', and yesterday it bit me in the booty.  Bob was a trooper as he always is and spurred me on, sometimes me just letting him be a bit ahead of me, as I fell into step behind him.  And then I would surge a bit and he would pull me back and thankfully so...It was my stubbornness that would drive me, and then reality would rear its ugly head. 

Since Friday's are my day off from running, and I honestly wanted to run a short 3 miles today just because it was the first day of the new year, I did the smart thing and didn't run.  I want to have an exceptional run tomorrow (12 miles), so today I am resting my poor, tired body; letting the muscles heal as they are supposed to at this point in time, and just be ready for tomorrow morning.  I am not thrilled with the route, as it includes Memorial Park and the bayou; not conducive to any fast miles for me, but I suspect I can get in half of them at marathon pace if I should choose to.  Or maybe I should do as Coach says and run tomorrow as I would be any other Saturday "long" run.  My schedule doesn't call for any marathon pace miles, so there's that.

Now is not the time to be overly aggressive.  Or stupid.