Bottle of Smoke

Distance: 3.25 miles
Speed: 10.77 minutes/mile
Weight: 119 lbs.
Music: If I Should Fall From Grace With God by The Pogues

It's been a full week since my last run, so I feared the worst. Surprisingly, it went okay. Not great, but I was able to add a quarter mile and increase my speed without feeling like I was going to die at the end of the run, so hooray for progress, however minimal.

Observations:

1. While talking about running during dinner at the New Wave, Todd suggested that I shouldn't try to increase my speed just yet. Apparently, I should focus on mileage until I get to 5 miles, and then slowly work on getting faster. Where's the fun in that?

2. I have to acknowledge the possibility that I may not be able to run 10 miles by May 1st. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop training or even consider not participating in the race; it just means I'm going to try to be realistic, so I'm not completely deflated if things don't go the way I hope.

3. If no one is around, and any Rocky movie happens to be on TV, I will watch it.

On my way back from the gym, I saw my neighbor Heather standing in her doorway. She also shares a wall with Van's place (the scene of Sunday's fire), and her house sustained significant smoke damage. Her walls and all of her belongings are covered in soot, and the smell is bad enough that she's staying with her brother while her home is being cleaned. Talking with Heather made me feel very lucky (again) that no one was hurt and that Todd and I didn't have any real damage to our place.

Thanks to all of you who sent emails expressing concern for our well-being. Now go out and buy yourself an emergency escape ladder and batteries for your smoke detector, and have a great weekend!