Winging it

Two weeks from today, I will be winging my way to Omaha to participate (I actually wrote "compete" and burst out laughing) in their annual marathon. I have no idea if I am prepared to do this.  I assume there are websites that provide training guidance, but, consistent with the way I've conducted this project and this blog from the beginning, I prefer to wing it.  Remember how, about a week into it, I suddenly realized I had given not a moment's thought to what kind of shoes I should have?  And Brian reminded me the other day of my several pouring-down-rain-complete-with-thunder-and-lightning walks because it had never occurred to me to have a back-up plan.

Twice, when we were 15 and 16, Lynn and I, along with a group of friends, participated in the March of Dimes 20-mile Walkathon in Pittsburgh.  Preparation?  Training?  Who even thought of that? None of us were athletes, none of us had walked more than the normal daily amount, and then we woke up on a Sunday and walked 20 miles.  Good lord, did we even wear tennis shoes?  My memory is that we started in the morning -- not insanely early, like 7:00 AM, but early -- and walked until it was dark.  I seem to remember us all just kind of strolling along.  And remember, there were no ipods back then.  The more I think of it, the more amazing it all seems.  I remember getting blisters on my feet, but I don't remember hobbling into school on Monday.  How resilient the teenage body is.

The other day, in a particulary boring staff meeting, I was hiding in the back and trying to figure out my projected time for completing 26.2 miles.  You should have seen the scratch paper.  Since it takes me anywhere from 15-18 minutes to complete a mile, I multiplied 18 x 26.  That's 468.  Then I divided that by 60.  That came out to 7.2  What does that mean?  By now I've forgotten what I'm trying to figure out -- miles or minutes?  Okay, let's attack this from another angle.  Let's say it takes me 18 minutes a mile for the first, oh, five miles. I'm coming up with 90 minutes.  Then let's say it's 20 minutes a mile for the five miles after that.  That's 100 minutes, so we're now at 190 minutes.  Do I divide that by 60?  Help me, Jesus.  My head was swimming.  I think I'll have Aimee come up with some kind of chart.

Jackson had taken Banks on a good long woods walk yesterday, so I took the opportunity to do my whole five miles alone.  There are many songs on my iphone that I love, but two in particular that make me walk very, very fast:  "96 Tears" by Question Mark and the Mysterions (I defy any Gen Y-er to tell me that has not held up as a great song) and "All I Want" by Toad the Wet Sprocket. I played them over and over again as I tackled hill after hill.  This weekend I'll be downloading a bunch of new ones, and am going to try very hard to save them for the marathon.