But Not Yet

The Zen Master is by far the most remarkable patron of the late gym hours. As expected, the master is the epitome of grace and equilibrium. The master doesn’t come too late or too early and is neither staying too long or too short. The right measure is something deeply embedded in almost everything the master does. The taste in clothing is refined and the few pieces of the gym attire are always pleasantly matched in both shape and color.

The content of the training is tough, but not too tough, and very well organized. The beginning starts on the mat (same place each time) and it contains a healthy assortment of stretches followed by an intense set of several types of crunches. This last item is of particular importance because the master is also known as The Super Cruncher (not to be confused with another type of crunchers popular in some circles) due to the perfect technique employed in performing them. Next is a lap of walking followed by running. How many laps? Five (half a mile) is the magic number. The speed is much faster than one mile per minute but distinctively slower than a sprint. The running style is another distinctive feature of the master which sports an impeccable and elegant stride. Another lap of walking and another half a mile concludes half of the whole program. The very end is typically reserved for a vigorous series of jumps. Only after this the right amount of effort was properly achieved.

In accordance with the rules of perfect harmony the master is never in a rush and the main parts are separated by brief breaks, usually including a walk to the water fountain. Like many other people the master is also using a portable audio player but, unlike many, this is never allowed to perturb the focus on the main activity.

The master is a young blonde girl which never smiles. Her outstanding perseverance is inspiring and it will surely serve her well in the future.

Today I run the Half Marathon from the Baltimore Running Festival. My finish time was 2:04:50 which placed me on the overall position 2895 out of 7815 (around the top 37% mark). In the Males 30-34 section I’m probably deeper in the bottom half though. :P The average time per mile was 9:32 was better than I expected. One reason might be the fact that going downhill more than compensated the slowdown accumulated on the uphill sections.

I just eat and not I’m heading to bed for some rest so here some quick observations.

Good stuff:

• finishing the race faster than I expected
• the combination of overcast and some showers made the race very enjoyable (and very Baltimore-style too :P)
• the random people cheering in various places
• the downhills! Until now I had now idea that I actually like them. :-)
• the gummy bears. In a few places gummy bears were offered to the runners. Beside being a funny thing in general it was even funnier so see them forming a trail on the running route. Cute!
• the meal (the regular breakfast I have each) I had when I got home tasted better than ever.

Not so nice stuff:

• the places with the Gatorade drinks smelled like some medicine to me
• the smell of the portable rest rooms. There is not much to get things better I guess though. I have to say that I made a stop for one after about 6 miles and after that it was great.
• the blisters I got on my right foot. It was from a callus but it never gave me such problems before. Ignoring it was not wise though. Lesson learned.
• the last mile was much harder than I expected
• the heavy dizziness from the end due to the hard stop. There were so many people at the end that was impossible not to stop though.
• I lost about 1kg.

Some random stuff:

• people stopping at Clifton Park to take a leak in the nature. Considering the smell of the alternatives I cannot blame them.
• no “Keep Plucking that Chicken!” cheering. I would have loved to hear this one. The explanation of the phrase would have made it perfect for anything after 6 miles. Especially for the last one. :-)