Getting back to Boston

Easy 4 on the dreadmill at my hotel in North Charleston, SC. No fan, not much air conditioning, and good old Low Country humidity, so it was miserable. Shut it down after 4 rather than struggle for another 20 minutes.

T went to his doctor visit, which went well, and he was released to walk without his boot (although he's been doing it). Then lunch with Pam, Tom and Tom's son, which was less awkward than I feared. Then we hit the road -- Columbia, Augusta, Atlanta, dinner in the suburbs with Peggy, then to Chattanooga for the night. Got there 9ish, so not too bad, about six hours drive in the books. Not quite halfway, in other words.

No run today. Spent the day in the car, pretty much. Left Chattanooga, went through Nashville, down to Memphis, back to LR to collect my car, then T and I both went to Bryant to see the folks. Neither one of us had seen Mumber since about Christmas. Dinner with them, then I headed back. Even got in some quality time with Jen, which was nice and not entirely expected. She's slowly getting back to her old self.

Very nice day, spent largely reconnecting with Jen. A lot of stuff has gone on in the last month or so, and a lot of it has tended to push us apart. Today, we got closer. She was supposed to start therapy this afternoon, but the therapist changed her appointment to Friday and left Jen a VM, which she never checks. So we showed up to find nothing. I called the therapist and got the word after the fact. Jen and I basically spent all afternoon together, even including the abortive trip to the therapist, and I could stand to have a few more afternoons like this one. It was the kind of day you might daydream about in a relationship, and then tell yourself, "nah, can't happen." But it did.

Late night last night with Jen, up by 10, over to her house in early afternoon, then ran at the gym at 3:20 (at which point it was 88 and rising outside). Not a real comfortable 6, but got it done. I've got 10 weeks to Stockholm. Time to get some running done. I know I'm not going to run very fast, but I need enough mileage to at least jog it without undue distress. Maybe this week I can get the miles in along with work.

Back in the saddle at MAFC. Actually felt pretty good. Fitness has held on nicely for as little as I've been running lately.

Hadn't expected to run today, but Jen asked me to run with her in the Women Can Run 5K at Conway. So I did. It was cool but humid, threatening to rain but didn't. Jen did very well considering her lack of training over the last few weeks (for very understandable reasons). She finished in 41:34, and really ran a lot more than I had thought she would. As for me, an easy jog, although running at 13+ pace can be tougher than it sounds. Also my first bandited race. I did not use any resources at all, no water, no portapotty, no nothing. A guy that I semi-recognized was pacing the 13:00 pace group, and he called me out by name. I know I've seen him before, but where, I have no idea. Maybe at Toad Suck.

When we were actually running, we were probably at a low-10 pace. We ran into Lorna and a few other FS runners too, easy to spot in teal shirts (which Jen did not have). So she's finished her first race, didn't wind up in the hospital, and maybe now can do some decent running through the summer and fall.

Very sweaty 4 with Kathy in 90-degree weather. She still wants me to coach her for Chicago, and her training plan starts Sunday for that. Lots of questions, as always, but that's fine. As long as I have reasonable answers, and so far, I do. Have about eight weeks to get my butt in gear for Stockholm.

Indoor until run at MAFC. Got called after 2, ran another mile before showering. First time I've run two straight days in a while. We'll see if I can make it three straight on Sunday. That one will be an until run too.

Another until run at MAFC, while Jen is busy moving into her new place. In this case, got five miles done until they called to notify me of a patient being moved to ICU by a consultant. Could have kept going, I suppose, but decided that was a good time to shut down. Three days in a row, 12ish miles. Lot better than I've been doing lately, although nowhere near where I need to be in eight weeks.

Another until run at MAFC. Got five done before getting called, first by Jen, then by work. Unfortunately, second call took precedence. But Jen had stuff to do this afternoon anyway, so might not have been much fun. All I can say at this point is that I can handle an easy 5-miler without much trouble. How that will translate in Sweden in a few weeks, hard to say.

Sevenish, exact distance unknown, with Cedric and Peter at Toronto. Garmin didn't lock in. It was hot, though. About 80, bright sun. At least a bit of breeze off the water.