~annejuliet
- Tommy: Richard Hayden!
- Richard: Tommy.
- Tommy: Where’s my Dad? I thought he was supposed to pick me up at the airport?
- Richard: He was at the airport this morning, but you weren’t on the plane.
- Tommy: He said he had a surprise for me.
- Richard: Maybe. I guess that’s why you should’ve called.
- Tommy: I did call…earlier…or, later.
- Richard: Really? What number did you call?
- Tommy: Two…four…niner…five, six, seven…
- Richard: I can’t hear you, you’re trailing off and did I hear a niner in there? Were you calling from a walkie-talkie?
- Tommy: No, it was cordless.
i could go on. i WANT to go on. but it’s so much more fun with roosk. both quoting tommy and running long runs.
several weeks ago it hit me like a ton of bricks that when i wrote about my nine miler, i would call it ‘did i catch a niner in there…?’ but when i imagined it, roosk was there with me and we quoted it the whole way then we came back to one of our places and watch tommy boy 6 or 8 times while drinking bloody marys for the entirety of a saturday afternoon.
the long run was supposed to be sunday, but with the snomgasm (that’s what they’re calling it in these parts) looming, i wanted to try to get it in while i could still see the pavement. since roosk was taking off for the weekend, it was easy enough to swich out thursday and sunday. i’m sure i’ll go out for a sixer as planned, but if it’s not at a goal pace or the snow sends me inside early, i’ll at least know i got the long run in without selling my soul to the dreadmill. the truth is, i really can’t keep pace on the treadmill. it’s somehow SO much harder. so i packed my running clothes with me when i left for work this morning and just took the long way home.
it felt pretty good too. i changed up my route significantly so it was all pretty new and fun. it’s hard to make a nine mile route with my nighttime standards (no trails or parks, well lit, busy streets), but i had a really enjoyable run. it was shockingly warm outside today and this evening considering what is in store. 40’s. perfect running temp for me. and everyone was in the grocery store stocking up like the world is coming to an end, so the sidewalks were not too busy.
my goal was nine minute miles. i’d like to say my goal for the entire 13.1 will be nine minute miles, but i think it might still be too early for that. even so, while i was tired at the end, i was not totally beat. when i finished, i just though, ‘shoooooot, i can SO FINISH THIS! this biatch is MINE!’ if i can run 9 miles without wanting to lay down and DIE the second the garmin struck 9, i can slog out 4.1 more miles. it is yet to be determined if it will be within my goal time, but i’m sure i can run across that finish line. and can i tell you? that feels pretty fucking awesome. and as a note, i think my goal pace is more of a ‘well, wouldn’t that be awesome if i did that?’ my real overall goal is to finish and to run the whole thing and to genuinely feel good for as much of it as possible.
of course when i ended at roosk’s house, i allowed her to feed me yummy (who knew?!) frozen pizza and sat around petting the dog. so i didn’t stretch well and didn’t ice. and i’m regretting it already. i’m hoping the #9 (too fitting to resist at the grocery store tonight) works some magic (ha, get it? cause it’s magic hat?) and make me feel better. so far it’s working.
ps. 9 is my second favorite number (next to 27) and i had a delightful time writing it as many times as possible.
stats
9.01 miles, 1:20:43, average pace 8:57
- 8:26
- 9:05
- 9:07
- 9:19
- 9:09
- 9:12
- 8:52
- 8:49
- 8:39
