10 days since the last post...

Well, it has been 10 days since my last post, and it will be more than that before my next post. Many of my pals have had limited posts in the past months. The economy, the weather, and the stress just have many, like me, so frazzled. So many pals have pains or injuries that are holding them back. We just need spring to get here. I am sure it will make us all so much better!

In the past 10 days, I have run about 2 of 3 days with a minimum of 30 minutes each time. I had two runs of over 2 hours each. I have been on this low-carb diet, and man, do I feel so weak and slow. I have added weights, but I do not feel strong. My runs are how I felt between 72 and 77 miles in the 100 a few years ago. I try to make one foot go in front of the other, but it does not feel natural? 

I know it was a little icy on the river trail this past weekend, but it took a lot of work to maintain a 14-minute mile. My heart rate was only in the 130s, but my legs were like logs that were hard to move?

I leave for Germany tomorrow and have no plans to run there… A whole lotta walking is in the books, but no planned runs. When I return, I return for a follow-up blood test, and hopefully, I can get off this low-carb diet. I love pasta, and since I have been working hard to have 55% protein, 25% carbs, and 20% fat, it sucks… Simple as that… I enter everything I eat and watch it closely. Just not easy to do, at least for me…

As I watch the TV tonight, they have an interview with the single mother of 14… This has been the subject of many conversations I listened to but did not join in throughout the past week. The more I hear, the more I wonder how anyone ever expects to properly raise 14 kids on her own financially. I have one, and that is a challenge! But as my old professor would say, what is properly?

I know families with five or six kids and see the hardships they have… I cannot help but think you, and I will pay to raise these and many other kids in the same situation. I will never get it, but maybe that is just it. I am not supposed to… When I tell someone about Al Holtz and his 150-mile last year, they never get it… We all have our quirks, but the quirks many others and I have are not a burden on the taxpayer… Although I may be making a wrong assumption, that is all I can think of…

I have been thinking a little about my potential race options for the 2009 season, and I still come back to the same thought… Grandma’s, and that is it… No other races!!! I know I am running more, but I cannot get the heart into it… I enjoy the time outside and the runs, but the thought of a structured race just does not thrill me right now… I was thrilled to see a fellow blogger put together a great list of podcasts about running…. Check it out! http://mwrunfar.blogspot.com/2009/02/running-podcasts-continue-to-grow.html… I found some good ones on this list...

Anyway, gotta pack! Going on a 4,800-mile journey to see my son and have a relaxing vacation. Keeping up with a soon-to-be 20-year-old highly active male may not be relaxing, but we have a great time together! This is my second real non-run/non-tennis-related vacation since 1999… So I am due, and I think it will be a nice break…

Carry on!