Which sounds farther - 17 miles or 27 kilometers? Either way, that's about what we ran this morning. We are less than 75 days from the marathon (this is week 18 of our 25 week training program). I have friends (real friends and cyber-friends) running Chicago tomorrow, Nike Womens' next weekend and Marine Corps. the weekend after that.
I read Runners' World religiously, I coach a group of runners every Saturday at 6:00 a.m. and extol the virtue of Ice Baths (like one giant ice pack on your whole lower half), the difference between Advil and Tylenol (anti-inflammatory vs. pain reliever, one may dehydrate you and be a little harder on your stomach) and have a relatively sane conversation about the newest flavor of GU. I know where the iliotibial band is.
According to Wikipedia the historic definition of a geek "referred to a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken, bat, snake or bugs." The definition of this word has changed greatly over time. While I don't know anyone who bites the head off of live animals (at least I don't think I do), many of us think we know at least one or two "computer geeks". But a geek could be considered "one who is perceived to be overly obsessed with one or more things" - like running.
I don't know if I'm really a runner geek. I don't go out and run every day. While I usually have my running gear in my car, it's because I have planned to run, not really for "just in case" moments. I truly enjoy Friday evenings during marathon season, when I don't run or do anything strenuous except cook a pot of pasta and try to put something more creative than a jar of Ragu on top of it.
I can't run a 4 hour marathon (Boston qualifying time for my age group), but I can run a 5 hour marathon. I haven't yet taken a vacation around a marathon but I have San Diego and New York in my sights for 2009. I don't have a cool watch that figures out how fast I'm running and how far I've gone (well - because mine broke and I need to replace it). I love running with a group on Saturday mornings and "coaching" them so they love running too.
If those things make me a geek - then I'm proud to be one.
Runner Geek - posted at Tue, 14 Oct, 10:50 Central
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