Lane's Ramblings

18 seemed to be the theme for this weekend, although, I think I could have done without any of them.

The first 18 came in the middle of the day Saturday and was concerning my long run for the week. I had to change my long run from Sunday to Saturday because I had plans on Sunday that would have made the run absolutely horrible so with a little shuffling of the schedule, I had myself out in the cold rain doing a slow but long 18 miles. As you progress through training it's amazing to see what your body becomes used to. I can do 10 miles like it's nothing and Saturday I got through the first 13 without even noticing anything - actually, I was questioning whether or not I had added up the miles correctly. And the time just flew by, I didn't think I had been out there long enough to have run that far. But the great thing about this training schedule is that every 2 weeks the long runs increase by two miles, and whether it's mental or actually physical, the run doesn't become difficult until the last two miles each time. And to explain to those that have never done long distance running - it has nothing to do with being "winded" - at this point running is a natural state and the limiting factors are leg fatigue and fuel consumption and the last two miles are tough because your legs need to get used to that distance.

18 number two - on Sunday I was able to take care of my annual golf game - I think I have consistently played golf just once each year for the past few years. Six of us met up at a course in Werribee to try out this stupid skill (it's not a sport, people, quit fooling yourselves), it was cool but sunny, the course was wet but not exceedingly so. I actually did a lot better than I expected to and it was fun but still reinforced my belief that I have no interest in pursuing this hobby.

And the final 18 actually came this morning when the Tigers scored scored 18 runs in the 3-game series against the Red Sox. As I'm sure you know, I really could have done without that one. No excuses about "well, we had Tavarez and Gabbard and then Dice-K was off..." The Sox just sucked it up - we couldn't even do anything when Detroit had 5 errors on Sunday. Am I concerned? No. I think the team is tired and needs the All-Star break to recoup. We still have a great team and an easy month coming up and with the lackluster AL East, the Sox should be playing in october. And if the Tigers keep playing the way that they are then maybe we'll get a chance to play them again... But they need to take care of Cleveland before they can worry about being around in the fall.

The upcoming week is a normal one for me, nothing exciting. But I'm hoping to head up to Mt Buller on Saturday to do some snowboarding. I'll keep you posted on that.