Dispatches from the City of Angels
I'm a writer and humorist living in and writing about Los Angeles. You can catch my novel LOSING CLEMENTINE out March 6 from William Morrow. In the meantime, feel free to poke around. Over at my website you can find even more blog entries than I could fit here, as well as a few other ramblings. Enjoy and come back often.
Read/Post Comments (3)
Like me!
Follow me!
Favorite Quotes:
"Taint what a horse looks like, it’s what a horse be." - A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett
"Trying to take it easy after you've finished a manuscript is like trying to take it easy when you have a grease fire on a kitchen stove." - Jan Burke
"Put on your big girl panties, and deal with it." - Mom
"How you do anything is how you do everything."
Want E-Mail Updates?
Click here, type your e-mail address into the first field (for public entries) and receive an e-mail note each time a new blog post goes up. Absolutely, positively no spam. Promise.
Foot to dirt
I should've done this earlier. It's not that I forgot exactly. It's more that I just didn't do it. And I'm not alone. Go to any running store an hour before closing time on a Saturday night - when other people are out with friends, in restaurants, at the movies, in bars - and you'll find a whole horde of sinewy, desperate people packed around one small display: the GU.
A 98-pound woman will take you out at the knees for the last packet of Strawberry Banana, and she will not feel bad about it.
GU is a food replacement substance used mostly by runners and triathletes during long events. They have to be long because under nothing but the most deprived conditions would you consider consuming a foil packet of snot.
I bought $8 worth and then ran across to the grocery store for cereal, pasta, vegetarian chicken nuggets and rocky road ice cream. Pre-race meal of champions.
Tomorrow, my husband will pull me out of bed before sunrise, shove me into a pair of running shorts, drive me to Malibu and push me toward the start line. A year ago, the idea of running 50K had me shaking in my Asics. I couldn't sleep the night before I was so jacked up on race plans, trail maps and fear.
Today, I'm embracing the stupid of running. Let's face it. You can study the elevation changes, watch the weather, calculate your calorie burn and your sweat rate. You can write mile splits on your forearm in magic marker. But all you really have to do is run. Just run. For about seven hours. That's a lot of time to put foot to dirt, a lot of time when your brain just isn't required. I kind of like that. I'm looking forward to the stupid. Also the finish.
A 98-pound woman will take you out at the knees for the last packet of Strawberry Banana, and she will not feel bad about it.
GU is a food replacement substance used mostly by runners and triathletes during long events. They have to be long because under nothing but the most deprived conditions would you consider consuming a foil packet of snot.
I bought $8 worth and then ran across to the grocery store for cereal, pasta, vegetarian chicken nuggets and rocky road ice cream. Pre-race meal of champions.
Tomorrow, my husband will pull me out of bed before sunrise, shove me into a pair of running shorts, drive me to Malibu and push me toward the start line. A year ago, the idea of running 50K had me shaking in my Asics. I couldn't sleep the night before I was so jacked up on race plans, trail maps and fear.
Today, I'm embracing the stupid of running. Let's face it. You can study the elevation changes, watch the weather, calculate your calorie burn and your sweat rate. You can write mile splits on your forearm in magic marker. But all you really have to do is run. Just run. For about seven hours. That's a lot of time to put foot to dirt, a lot of time when your brain just isn't required. I kind of like that. I'm looking forward to the stupid. Also the finish.
Read/Post Comments (3)
Previous Entry :: Next Entry
Back to Top
