As much as I enjoy running some different routes on the westside of Madison, it's always nice to be back in Monona to be able to run around the lake. I was originally planning on doing a little five mile run yesterday morning for my first day back in Monona since my dog sitting stint, but a cold drizzle was falling yesterday, plus I thought my legs could use an extra day off, especially since my left knee was still a little achy and sore. Today though, it was time to get back to business no matter what the weather was like or how my knee felt. The weather this morning was pretty fall like. It was very overcast with a chill in the air, and there was a light mist falling at times with a pretty decent wind blowing. Fall is definitely a comin'. I actually broke my streak and wore a running shirt for the first time in a few months. That has to be a new record for me. I was actually getting pretty accustomed to running bare chested, what with the warmer temperatures of summer, but with the thermometer taking a little nose dive as of late, I thought it would be best to don a shirt today. I'm sure that disappoints most of the women in Madison, and Dane County itself for that matter (yeah right), but I'm sure they will survive. I do have to say though, that I did get a semi nice tan with with all the shirtless running. Now people can't accuse me of being the human nightlight or asking if my parents are albino's. I digress, though. Anyways, once I got outside and hit the pavement, it was nice to run the 'ol Lake Monona route again. There was quite a bit of activity going on too. For one thing, there were more bicyclist commuters than I had seen in quite a while. On the bike path's, they were coming from everywhere. No wonder gas prices have been dropping a bit lately... everybody is riding their bike to work. The second hub of activity was down at the Monona Terrace where all the Ironman athletes were taking a dip into the waters of Lake Monona to get in a light workout before the big competition on Sunday morning. Even though the event is a couple days away, you could definitely feel the excitement exuding from the athletes, which in turn helped me pick up my pace a bit. You know, people think I'm nuts for running the miles I do and the marathons I race, but I have to say I look pretty sane compared to those Ironmen and women. I honestly have never fathomed how they can line up on a given morning and do a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run. How could anyone enjoy doing that? I give them all the credit, though. It's an incredible testament of the human will to be able to accomplish something like that. They are true athletes in every sense of the word, and even though I think they are a little nuts (and I mean that in the nicest possible way), I will be down by the Monona Terrace on Sunday morning cheering them on as they start, and encouraging them several hours later as they finish, some even into the late hours of the night. After running by them this morning and thinking of all the pain and hard work that they've had to endure over the past several months just to reach this point and this weekend, it really dumbfounds you on what the human body can endure. To say it succinctly... it humbles you. And it makes the little 11 mile training run I did this morning seem a like spit in the bucket... a cakewalk. To say it succinctly... like nothing.
Today's workout: 11.5 miles > 1:28:19 > 7:41 pace
Miles this week: 31.7
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