The Night B4 Run Numero Two-O

Good Evening Friendly Readers. It's the Friday night before my second big run. Tomorrow is the 5 miler out of Cranberry School in Norwalk starting at 8am. Right now, I'm sitting on the comfy chair in our living room and Kristine and her Mom are on the couch. On the 60" is Because Of Winn Dixie care of Netflix. Cute flick.

It's been two weeks since my last race and I don't know what to expect for tomorrow. I've been doing some training and exercising but since I'm not supposed to do any training the day prior to a race...

I was the same way the night before the last race. I just want to run the race now and get it over with so I know how I did and learn from my mistakes. I learned some things at the last race. For one, I'm in a running class all my own. I started in the company of a team of 6 last race and ended up by myself. 5 of my team consisted of very fit people who finished a good distance ahead of me. Kristine was with me the longest but not having trained, she told me to go ahead of her a few minutes in. I'm not sure how many outside of the core 3 will be running tomorrow, but Kristine will be spending time with her Mom instead of racing which is fine as she hasn't had the time to exercise in the last week or so.

Running and the other exercising I've done in the last 4 weeks has been both very cool and very trying. Sometimes there have been moments that were rewarding. Other times, I have been in a mental state that I refer to as Whiny Bitch Dave. The picture above is the perfect example of that mindset. I took it of myself for a blog entry I never wrote called, "What Have I Gotten Myself Into". Whiny Bitch Dave is what I become when I'm exhausted from the running and I don't feel like I'm accomplishing anything and I think all is lost. I've learned that when I get this way just to ignore most things that cross my mind and let it pass.

As my abilities improve, I've found the harder times are becoming fewer and the cooler times come more frequent. I made the mistake of running on the Stamford High track at high noon on Wednesday. It's a little too hot right now to be running at that time of day and I won't make that mistake again. After jogging/walking for 2 miles, I called it quits for the day, but I had 2 cool moments before I did.

The first cool moment came when I hit the track, running that first lap. The plan was to run 2 laps and then walk the third. When I started on that first lap, it's the first time since I started running that running felt right. I felt like I knew what I was doing and that I would have no trouble doing the first 2 laps.

The second cool moment came after I finished that 2nd lap and was walking to the stands to get my water and towel to carry with me as I walked the third lap. In the stands was a young woman along with three boys, one of which was maybe 6 years old. As I was grabbing my stuff, I looked up and saw the young boy standing behind my bag, holding his hand out to shake mine for having run the two laps. I shook his hand and said, "Thanks little man." A smart man would have stopped running that day after a mile but the image of the little boy shaking my hand kept me going for the additional mile. That was a very cool moment I will cherish thru all my races.

Speaking of that which we cherish while running a race, one thing that I needed to come up with was a way to keep running while focusing on something other than the thump thump of my feet and the heavy breathing. I picked up this months Runners magazine and in it, a women talked about how when she ran a marathon, she dedicated each mile to someone she cared about and thought about that person during their mile. It sounded like a good idea so when I ran my practice 5 miles on Monday, I created a music mix so that I could dedicate each of my 5 miles to people I cared for. Since I run around a 12 minute mile, I created 12 minute blocks for each person.

Mile #1 goes to my wife, Kristine Novak. I do this because my she is my wife and my wife always comes first.

Mile #2 is dedicated to my Godsister Laura Kelly. Her wedding is next Saturday and in addition to the wonderful memories I have of Laura, I run on behalf of the long and prosperous marriage I wish for her and her future husand, Mike.

I'm dedicating Mile #3 to Karen Lynch. In addition to being awesome, Karen is strong and perservering. Not only do I get to listen to Bon Jovi music while I run her mile, but I will have the strength of knowing that any hardship I'm facing by running will pale in comparison to what Karen has gone up against and successfully kicked it's ass. I expect this to be one of my stronger miles.

Mile #4 goes out to someone I don't believe I've mentioned in these pages. His name was Chris Plaag (rhymes with flag). In my life, there have been 3 guys responsible for taking the confused, intraverted, silent, outcast, low self esteem, sad on the inside kid that I once was and turning me into the complete opposite persona that I am today. The 2 most recent of the 3 are Tim Lynch and Steve Gilbert. Chris became the first of the three at the age of 14 when he shook my hand and introduced himself to me and that's a day I will never forget. It's unfortunate that I will also never forget the day that I just happened to be in Newington on the night of his wake. Chris was only 15 at the time of the car accident that took his life. While I only knew Chris for a short time, his impact on my life is timeless and thus I run this mile for him.

The Final Mile, I run for my Mother, the dearly departed Dale Barber. I'll get into the full music mix I'll be listening to at another time but for those of you playing along at home, at around 8:55 tomorrow morning, if you were to play "Flashdance (What A Feeling)" by Irene Cara, followed by "Suite - Judy Blue Eyes" by Crosby, Still, & Nash, it would be like you were finishing the race with me and mom.

Thanx 4 reading. I'll talk 2 u soon.
Dave