post the first, 2013

got up at a quarter after dark and tiptoed into the bathroom with the phone to check the weather. radar shows rain but the circle of yard and deck visible in the halo of the floodlight out the window is wet, but holding still. so? not raining then, and maybe what's on the radar's merely virga.

tiptoe to the kitchen for a glass of water and crack myself up walking thru the hole where there was a wall... until three days ago. finally taking any action towards remodeling this old place feels good.

i sit at the kitchen table munching saltines and waiting for the sun to crest the hill because i might be a crazy runner but i don't have a death wish. anyone on this road at this hour on this day is in no shape to avoid sending me into the dark wet ditch. harry potter yrs 1-4 lego app is on sale for 99¢ so i download that while i'm waiting.

when it becomes obvious the sun will indeed rise this first day of 2013, i retreat to the bathroom and get dressed with the clothes i threw in there earlier this morning after toasting in the new year. i carry my garmin, socks, and shoes to the den and step barefoot onto the deck to set the garmin for a signal. it's very cool but thankfully not cold and not raining. feels like shorts will be ok. after socking and shoeing, i don hat and mittens (with shorts!), gather garmy... i'm off.

the first mile's a warm up so i try hard not to try hard. i go up that hill to add a mile before the normal three route. a couple steps before the turnaround i fart, then i turn and step by thru it and crack up. who can't wait two steps. sha.

this is the heart of the run. three miles at MP (marathon pace). coach says for me, that means 9m/m. i've hitched my wagon to the star of her faith in me, so i jack up the pace and try to find 9. somewhere between trying too hard and not trying at all there's this sweet spot and i'm out there like a junkie looking for a vein and i'm over, under, around, so near i can taste it. cloud 9 eludes me.

the fog is luxurious. deer literally high-tail it across my path. a few neighbors are up, walking a dog here, getting the newspaper there. one lady's apparently excer-walking. good morning, neighbors, happy new year. i greet them all from my perch atop this donkey's back, as i tilt at this windmill called marathon.