This has been a pretty good day off

I've accomplished only one thing today on my mental list of stuff to do, but this has been a pretty good day off. I think I'm most excited to have my computer back. It might sound bratty, but I'm a little bit scattered without it to check the news, write emails, etc. Let's hope it stays fixed.

I don't get up much before 9:30 or 10 a.m. most days because I don't work until the afternoon. So, I was a tired and unshowered for the first marathon training session, which started at 8:30 a.m. 30 miles away in Olympia. It was held at some sort of community center for old folks, and the brief introductory lecture was given in the building's tiny little gym -- complete with kick balls stuck in the rafters.

Most people were chatty beforehand, asking things like, "Have you ever run a marathon before?" and "What's the farthest you've ever run?" But many had sort of a grim look when the running store owner, who's sponsoring the five months of training, started talking.

Prepare to run or cross-train six days a week, he said.
Be here promptly at 8 a.m. every Saturday until mid-May, he said.
Get ready for some *long* runs like April 29's 22-mile barn burner, he said.

I'm probably the youngest person in the training group, so the pressure is on. If the 60-year-old dude with the full head of gray hair can hang with the training, I sure as hell should, too.

There's one little problem that I haven't mentioned here yet: I've got some sort of weird, seemingly minor, knee injury. It's called Iliotibal Band Syndrome (IT Band for short), and I've been to the doctor for it. Basically, it causes me a dull, aching pain on the outside of my left knee after a couple miles. New shoes have helped, but it still hurts.

I mentioned my IT band problems to the head trainer and he didn't seem too pleased. I've decided to run only twice a week and power walk the other four days. It jibes with the training schedule.

It's sort of a let down to be walking 60-90 minutes four times a week to get in shape to run a marathon, but that's cool if it's the only way I can do it.