Nookachamps 1/2

This weekend was the Nookachamps ½ marathon, practically in my backyard. The weather was the best I can ever remember, at about 40 degrees with blue skies.

I finished in 1:51 and am kind of unhappy with my time/run. I just had no flexibility in my left hamstring, and my leg turnover wasn’t there at all. I think it may have had something to do with what I ate the night before, and having ran reasonably long the last couple weeks, but I want my bad runs to time out better than this. I feel like I need a whole lot more of everything—miles, flexibility (yoga), diet, speed, abs/upper body, etc. Arrghhh! Maybe I need a coach, maybe a running partner. Something. I probably should be on a track once or twice a week. But it’s hard, with so many other things in life going on. I didn’t get home until about 10 PM on two different nights this week because of evening meetings/events.

That said, Nookachamps was a place to be this morning. Lots of friends running or volunteering. The usual warm drinks afterwards, and this year the half finishers got a medal. There weren’t a lot of swans out there—one flock of white birds right as we got near Clear Lake. There was a horse in the field at the bottom of Francis Road that was neighing and dancing about. The hill sides looked gorgeous with the clear winter air, and Mount Baker was visible at the beginning of the run.

And all of this is so distant from the Haiti tragedy. The television footage is horrible—I haven’t watched much, just enough to know. Haiti crossed my mind midway through the run, as I was struggling and slightly irritated with myself. All things in perspective.

In other news, I’ve joined the Facebook thing. I probably should dedicate a post to my thoughts on this phenomena. Bottom line: I’m better off with it than without, I think, and I particularly like the opt-in functionality for groups and organizations, which I’ve been busy setting up. But it can be a timesuck and a focus gremlin. I don’t see FB displacing this blog--if anything, I'll probably mess around with more mediums and blogs, and in fact started another blog a week ago ("Three Words Of The Day" (: ). I think the whole on-line publishing thing is fascinating, and single purpose sites seem like potential tools for something or other. I want to be facile with internet mediums. Late to the party--party harder.