Only the lonely

Miles to date: 89

Big week behind me. Had some great runs, put in a lot of miles.

Running is, by its very nature, a sport of isolation. It lends itself to people who are comfortable spending long amounts of time by themselves. I am not one of these people.

It is for this reason I prefer to run with my previously mentioned running compatriots. However, this being summertime and owing to the fact that I tend to spend my weekends on the Cape, I have not had the opportunity to run with my friends in a long time. This is by no means attributable to them and is solely my fault. This has not been much of an issue, as the runs I've been tackling haven't been too long, or strenuous. That changed this weekend.

Saturday called for about an 11 mile run. The route I mapped out was a little closer to 12. Running 12 miles, under the best of conditions, is a crappy thing. Running 12 miles by yourself is worse. Two hours (give or take) is a long time to spend doing anything.

That being said, Saturday's run was the best run I have had so far in my training. The weather was perfect (with temperatures in the high 60's and no humidity), the scenery was gorgeous - mainly owing to some spectacular views of Cape Cod Bay from the hills on route 130 and Quaker Meetinghouse road, and some beautiful streets throughout Sandwich, and I felt great. I actually felt like a runner again.

/knocks on wood

There is a historical trend that whenever I say I feel like a runner some calamity befalls me. Last time, not thirty seconds after I said that to Roger on a long run, I rolled my ankle and skinned my knee at the absolute furthest point possible from our origination spot. So I don't want to jinx anything.

This week in general the runs felt good. My mid-week long run was a great five miles as well, despite the oppressiveness of the air. Let's hope this is a product of my training and a sign of things to come.