Still Rolling

On mile 12 of a 16 miler a couple of weekends ago, I decided a January marathon was out of the question, simply because as I was ambling along, my inner thigh, groin and butt all seemed to seize up right about the same time. The final four miles of that run were not so fun. Since that point I've waffled. Last week I ran a measly 20 miles for the entire week, but on Monday or so, I thought that I could still cram in a few long runs and try it. The bottom line is that's just plain stupid. My body is simply not right at the moment. Maybe a half marathon would be just fine.

For some reason I have this awful feeling that if I make certain life changes that my life as an independent person who runs will be over completely. However, I need to remember that running is a part of who I am. Regardless of future challenges, I am committed to somehow remain true to myself.

Since I'm not running mad twenty-milers, feeling perpetually sore or worrying about getting injured, I've had a new cross-training activity that husband and I share together: bowling. During our dating days, husband and I have gone through our hobby phases of golf, tennis and bowling. We've gone a couple of weekend afternoons to roll a few game just for fun. Somehow, on one of the games I got into a groove and bowled a 178. I don't know that I've ever done that well. Perhaps the most entertaining portion of this activity is to watch the varied cross-section of individuals at the bowling alley. Last Sunday featured the gamut of small children aided by parents, a very pregnant young woman with a gang of other early twenty-somethings and a band of cursing cowboy-hat wearing country folks who surprisingly didn't attempt to wear their cowboy boots and elected to wear rented bowling shoes. Bowling is sort of the universal "sport." that virtually anyone can do. It really doesn't matter if the score is high or low, sometimes the camaraderie the activity affords is enough. Perhaps running is the same way.