Nattering Nabobs of Negativity

You'd think that after running a PR on Saturday that I would be energized and fired up, ready to surge ahead. Instead, I was tired, I slumped, had almost no energy, and listened to those NNN's in my head for three days. They almost had me convinced that I was a fraud, that I couldn't run, didn't want to run, didn't want to do any exercise at all. 5K's and triathlons were beyond my puny and feeble abilities. I was lazy, but what did it matter because I was no good any way. And I was fat - let's not forget fat.

A day off Monday became an off day and slid into Tuesday. I declined a noon time run because it was cloudy and cold - only in the high 40's. Never mind that I started running outside in January in the 20's - besides, that wasn't the real "me". Tuesday became woe-is-me Wednesday. I planned a bike ride for Wednesday night - but I really wasn't going to go. What difference did it make?

Except I asked Donna if she wanted to go and she did - she's training for the Pinebush this year and she was anxious to get off the stationary bike and outside on a real bike. So I met her on the bike path at 6 PM and we rode. And it was good. Not great - it my first time of the season. But I went up Blatnick Hill, didn't die and kept going. And I geared up Knolls Atomic Hill in 2:1 and was suitably impressed with myself for such an early in the season ride.

We went 5 miles out and 5 miles back and I felt pretty damn good when we were done.


At noon on Thursday, Donna went with me and I ran two miles along the river without stopping, and jogged a chunk on the way back, including the hills.

On Thursday night, it was back to the Y and the ministrations of Coach Aaron. That felt pretty good, too.

In other words, I took "The Cure" and the demons left me.

Frank Hu, epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health, had this to say in the Harvard Magazine, "The single thing that comes close to a magic bullet, in terms of its strong and universal benefits, is exercise."

I'll vouch for that.

See you out there.