A moonlit, December run

168 days until the Edinburgh marathon.

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Last night my wife had plans to go out with some of the other local mums, and so, if I was to run, I needed to do it as soon as I got home from work.

It was cold, - 2 C (29 degrees F), and when I arrived home I didn't feel motivated to go out. Yet, I'd read a bit about Emil Zatopek in Why We Run by Robin Harvie, and this was inspiration enough to get me out of the door. Zatopek would run dozens of 400s on the track near his home, and his motivation was to do more than others were willing to do. For him, running fast was a matter of training the will. For me, getting out on a cold night was a step in this direction.

I donned my headband, a long-sleeve shirt and a short-sleeve shirt, gloves, running trousers, wool sox, and my running shoes. I carried a small Cateye bicycle light.

As soon as I stepped out into the night, I was glad I'd done so. I jogged through a nearby neigbourhood, picking my way carefully around icy bits of the road or sidewalk. My finger tips were a little numb, but my torso warmed quickly.

I followed the path around the loch in the center of our town. The trees on the side of the path were barren, and the moon was bright, so I didn't need my torch (flashlight) to see my way. Across the loch the ruins of a palace were visible, illuminated by the moon. The path was frozen, and occasionally crunched underfoot.

After the loch, I followed a road around some farms, and then looped back through town to my home.

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I'd meant for this blog to finish with the Boston marathon, and indeed, I haven't updated it since the race this spring.

But I want to restart it now. I want to go back to Boston. Posting about my runs, somehow, allows me to hold on the these experiences a little longer.

Now, to be honest, I think it will be a challenge to meet the new qualifying time for Boston. I have to do a sub 3:25 marathon to qualify. My best time was a 3:29:46 at Loch Ness last year - and I felt like I left everything on the road there. So, I need to run 5 minutes faster than that. I will try to do this in the Edinburgh marathon this spring.

Hmmm... wonder if I can go out with 7:40 miles, and hang on for as long as possible.

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Last week we had a terrrific windstorm here in Scotland, and it overturned the table on our deck. This morning, there was a inch or so of snow covereing everything. During the night, a cat must have checked out the disorder.