LOTI 1, Ted 0

I ditched my silly swimming efforts a few weeks ago and recently switched to running outside. Deb, who is a life-long runner, and the nice weather are to blame. I have no major goals; no aims to complete a marathon or half-marathon or 10k or 5K or 3k. I'm in it for the physical and mental agony health, and I'd someday like to run alongside Deb and be able to chat without passing out. So, I suppose that's a goal.

I'm only four runs into the spring (who's counting, though, really?), and I got a little cocky on Monday night. I should have known better. I almost didn't go because I left my iPod at work earlier in the day, and music helps me to drown out the "left, right, left, right, let's stop, want to stop? left, right, left, right" thoughts in my head. But I hiked up my short-shorts and hit the pavement sans tunes.

A few blocks into the run, I was feeling really good. My intended path called for me to take on a small section of Lake of the Isles (LOTI) before turning tail back towards my apartment. But a short time before reaching the LOTI trails, RunnerTed convinced SensibleTed to try and tame the lake. Not even another inner-voice which sounded a lot like Burgess Meredith (circa "Rocky") could stop me (Yer not ready, kid! She'll eat-cha alive!)

LOTI: 2.60m walking, 2.97m biking
to LOTI: around 1.1m

Well, as you can tell by the headline, the bitch won. By my guesstimate, I made it about 1.8-2.0 miles around before succumbing to fatigue. I walked for six or seven minutes and then ran the rest of the way around the lake and back to home base. So, I probably ran four (or a little over) of the 4.8 miles. Not bad. But not the whole thing.

I'm now licking my wounds and will have to work my way back up the running ladder. I'll fight some lesser contenders, build up my moxie, and hope for another shot at LOTI. So, yeah, maybe I do actually have running goals.