January 28th

Does that date mean anything to anybody? Yes I know, it is the day after my birthday and I appreciate all the SLG'ers who remembered and sent me their best wishes. No, I did not hit a new "age category" yet. Let's just say that I am in my terminal 40's and leave it at that.
The real reason I want to bring this date to mind is that once upon a time, when I had a lot of running motivation and great plans, (some of you might say that I was delusional), I thought that we would run the Chicago marathon on October 22nd and then we would not let all that training and the excellent shape we were in go to waste and we would follow up Chicago with running the Miami marathon on January 28th 2007, which was today!
Instead, yesterday the two halves of my brain had a long internal struggle with each other, "To run or not to run, that was the question" All day long there was this back and forth and the "Not to run" won out, rather easily I must admit. So it wasn't even that much of a struggle. Today was not much better. Lying in bed this morning the discussion started again. Luckily, the internal struggle was interrupted by a phone call from an old friend who turned me on to running and I went out for a VERY SLOW 5 miler. I was glad I did it but boy, I am having a very hard time motivating myself to put on the running shoes.
Meanwhile, I hear from other members of SLG that there is definitely some running going on. Gil ran the Manhattan half last Sunday. For once he took it easy, and without any training to speak of he ran a 7:33 min/mile. It didn't win him any prizes but hey, he went out there, in the cold and ran 13 miles.
Dora ran a half marathon in Belgium last weekend. Same thing, she didn't burn the road but boy, I cannot imagine being able to run 13 miles right now.
Larry reported that he and Steve were planning to run a half marathon yesterday with temperatures expected to dip into the single digits in the morning.
Hats off to all of you!!!
In the meantime, Stefan had the great idea of going to the Millrose games in Madison Square Garden next Friday. Too bad I will not be able to join him but I am definitely marking it on my calender to go next year. I think it will be an excellent motivation to start the year less sluggish than the way things are going this year.
So, I guess I am looking for some motivation from the rest of the troup. What is everybody up to? I would love to hear from you all so that maybe I will feel a bit of a kick in the butt.
We also have to slowly start thinking of what we want to do this year. I think Clem is pretty much set on coming to New York to run the marathon. I know that several New York members have guaranteed entry for New York but some people have voiced interest in running the Twin City Marathon on October 7th, 2007.(Minneapolis, St. Paul) Apparently it is a well organized and a very pretty marathon. The field is limited to 10500 entrants and registration starts on May 3rd. The race director told me that it usually sells out in 2 weeks.
I would love to have some feedback and see whether this is something that people are really interested in or whether there are any other ideas. In the meantime, there is the New Jersey Half to think about at the end of April (or is anybody thinking of expanding this to a full marathon?) Decisions, decisions!!!
But before I can think of all those races, I first need to find myself back on track, or at least on the loop of Central Park... to get myself back in gear... and in shape. Lief

And the motto for 2007 is....

OK guys, do you realize that by January 2nd, 2006, a bunch of us had already signed up to run the Chicago marathon! How pathetic is this, it is only the second day of the year and we are already falling behind. Oh well, not every year can start with a bang like that. We just need to consider whether we would like to run the Twin City marathon on October 7th of this year. Sign up starts in April. So give it some thought and let us know.
Anyway, from the little I have heard from you all, it is obvious that running seems to be on the back burner these weeks. Except for Erik, he apparently ran 15 miles to close out 2006. So, his year not only started with a bang, it also ended with a bang. I suggested to Stefan yesterday that after we finish our New Jersey half marathon on April 27th, we can go and cheer on Erik in the second lap of his "full New Jersey marathon". Stefan pointed out that the way Erik is running, we may not be in time to see him finish.... (only kidding, Erik)
I heard from Clem the supercoach on New Year's eve. Even his running desire has seemed to have hit a snag. He even reported a week in which he ran "0" kilometers, which translates (for people who do not know about kilometers) in "0" miles. He probably was quite shocked about that number himself.
So, maybe it is a bit early to get going full speed, but maybe we all need the slightest kick in the butt and therefore, besides wishing you a happy New Year with a lot of fun miles, it is time to launch this year's motto.
Remember, just because Gil won the CMIYC trophy, he cannot just rest on his laurels. He may be the King now but faster runners are just around the corner. So, to paraphrase Stefan, and without keeping you all in suspense any longer I suggest that the motto for 2007 is
"After the Marathon is BEFORE the Marathon!" Get it?
Happy New Year! Lief