Marathon thoughts...

I just ran 18 miles this morning as part of my marathon training (and let me tell you, 18 miles is a long, long way), and as I ran, I thought about blog postings that I could do (since I am completely out of gas right now), and while I'm making chicken stock right now for a posting later today, I figured I'd also do a brain dump of various things that occurred to me on the run.

1. Living in an area with 3 major universities and numerous smaller schools means that you see a diverse group no matter where you go, even in Umstead Park at 7am, and unfortunately, they're all faster than me. (At least, the group of Kenyans I saw this morning were just smoking fast, and I saw them several times in my route, and they never looked tired).

2. Most people are very friendly when you're out running, and the ones that aren't probably are just tired.

3. Chafing is an unfair fact of life, and no matter what steps you take to prevent it (from strategic band-aids to different shorts, whatever), you will always chafe somewhere.

4. If I didn't have my shuffle, I'd go totally bat-crazy running long distances. I'm always impressed at the playlist I end up with, since I have enough music on there that each run is likely to have something different.
The bands I have on my shuffle: (in alphabetical order) Beastie Boys, Beck, Ben Folds Five, Breeders, Clash, Clinic, Dixie Chicks (ok, that one's embarassing), Drive-By Truckers, Elvis Costello, Fleet Foxes, Franz Ferdinand, Garbage, Girl Talk, Green Day, Guided By Voices, The Hold Steady, Jay-Z, Johnny Cash, Kathleen Edwards, The Knack, Loretta Lynn, Lucinda Williams, Muse, The New Pornographers, Nine Inch Nails, Old 97's, Outkast, Pearl Jam, Pixies, PJ Harvey, Public Enemy, REM, Raconteurs, Radiohead, Rolling Stones, Sleater-Kinney, Spoon, Superchunk, Ted Leo, Throwing Muses, U2, White Stripes, The Who, and finally, Wilco.

I think that's a pretty good mix, and it's interesting to go from one genre to another in one song. I've often thought this kind of trainwreck playlist would be a good radio format, but clearly, no one else does.

5. Finally, just because you're tired after a long run, don't expect sympathy from non-running members of the household. Trees still need planting, kids still have activities, and laying on the couch recuperating doesn't typically figure into things.

Next up, chicken stock.