My, my, what flattering tights you're wearing!

What a monstrous disaster. I sincerely hope the Rockies' plan of getting the first loss out of the way quick and easy works out. Because tonight's display of baseball... well... you've all seen it... I won't go into it here. Let's just say there was plenty of weeping and gnashing of teeth going on, and at many points, I had to stoop to insulting the physical appearance of the Red Sox players simply in order to fight off the overwhelming sense of despair and hopelessness that overtook me as my team went down in 13-1 flames. (I am sure, despite appearances, that Manny Ramirez doesn't really drown puppies in his spare time. And Big Papi doesn't look that much like Shrek, does he?)

*sigh*... Setting the punch bowl of sour grapes aside....

Last night's run went off without a hitch. SoxFan and I did a comfortable 3.5 miles. Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately, for the purposes of this blog) there was nothing extraordinary to report. It was dark and cold, but the full moon was nice.

Tonight, however, was my first experience at the track. I have to admit, I was quite nervous about the idea of meeting up with people and running around in circles. Especially when we all got there and I saw that I would clearly be the one pulling up the rear again. Don't get me wrong, it's all fine and good to be pulling up the rear when you're running a long out-and-back run and no one can really tell that you're dead last. But when you're running in a circle...well, I just imagined that everyone would finish their lap and then stand around chitty-chatting while I dragged my slow butt in. (note: this is not how track workouts operate!)

So, we started off with a couple of hearty make-you-look-completely-ridiculous stride exercises, as if my running "tights" weren't already accomplishing that task.

*****And by the way, running "tights" are just another name for Spandex, friends. You can use whatever euphemism you like, but in the end, it's just good ol' Spandex, just like it was back in 82. And just like back then, I consider it a privilege, not a right, and therefore I choose to run in "tights" with shorts on over the top. Now who's ridiculous?*****

After the drills, we took off running fast/slow intervals. I thought I knew what I was getting into here. So, I took off! And it felt unbelievable to be running so fast! I was taking these holy-moly long strides moving gracefully and effortlessly, and I felt the breeze whipping past me at an alarming rate. I'd finally tapped into my inner Kenyan!

But after lasting a mere 200 meters at a lightning fast pace of 8:30ish (yes, you read that correctly, and no you're not in the wrong place) I CRASHED AND BURNED... My slow intervals became walking intervals, and my fast intervals returned to a more reasonable 11:30ish. Much better. We only did this three times (which ended up being about 2 miles), and while I was kindof tired at the end of each fast interval, I left the track feeling like I needed to go work out.

But, the game was on...so...you know...