Weekend Warrior

Well, I wasn't really a weekend warrior, I just feel like one. I played my first softball game of the season on Sunday. We won even with only 9 players, which in co-ed rules means we had to take an automatic out every time the 10th player was up to bat. (It's a very sexist rule. I don't want to get into it any more than that. You can actually play with 5 girls and 4 guys and not take the out. They seem to think you're trying to get away with something if you do it the other way.) It felt pretty good at the time, but of course yesterday various aches and pains set in, even though I went walking at lunch and biked to and from work in order to keep the lactic acid on the move. The pain has eased up today, but I still didn't bother trying to go on a run, I suspected it would've been a waste of time. I always hope my running keeps me in shape for softball, but when most of my running is done at a slow and steady pace and softball is the opposite of that, I guess I run into problems. More pre-game stretching is necessary, I've decided.

I've been reading about running lately, and it has pepped me up about the sport. This fall, UNP is publishing Personal Record:A Love Affair with Running by Rachel Toor and I just finished an advance copy.

This is a collection of 26.2 chapters (note the marathon distance reference!) that chronicles Rachel's path from couch potato to ultra-distance runner. While there are several things I don't have in common with the writer, such as my speed (no speed on my part!), distance that I'm going to run in any given day (I will never be out on a course for 24 hours straight!), I found we had a lot of things in common, admittedly, just like a lot of runners do. I have a big watch, although not as big as Rachel's, I have text messaged my friend Steve all of my mile split times from a 10 mile race, and while Rachel seems to favor peanut m&ms during and after races, I have been known to put away a 1 lb. cheeseburger after the half-marathon. Rachel also explains "speed goggles", a term she gives to her tendency to find the average-looking fast male runner very attractive. I too admit I enjoy the scenery at an out-and-back race, where I pass every single runner who is ahead of me. I think we both dislike stretching as well, thus my softball woes.

I recommend this book for runners of all ages and abilities, and I especially enjoyed the fact that it was a woman's perspective. It's a fast read, and Rachel writes with a great sense of humor.