pine barrens

tomorrow hen and i represent at a sprint du in the jersey pine barrens, 18,00 acres of which have burned since an air force flare hit the ground still burning during a training exercise on tuesday. ooopsie.

my legs are have been pretty chummed all week, because sometimes i train like a total 'tard. but if Dr M invited you to run with him at tues nite track, i bet you would, even if he was running a 1600m -> 400m ladder at sub-6min mile pace that made your heavy legs even heavier. you would do it because you finally had someone to run with, someone with infectious optimism (not to mention total sponge-worthiness). training, for as much as we do it, is more than training -- it's also life, and it'd be shame to let your vision narrow too much, unless you're training for something huge. and even then you would reconsider your singular focus once M stripped off his shirt.

so hen and i are returning to the site of my very first triathlon (for there's a tri that runs concurrently). 4 years ago, when i was dumb and stubborn, i blithely ignored the fact that it was raining and about 40F; i ignored the woman racking her bike next to mine when she looked up at the dark sky and commented, the people who know how to dress will be the ones who do well today.

i don't know if she dressed and finished well, because i pulled out of the race midway through the bike leg with hypothermia. i sat in a course marshal's lincoln continental with the heat blasting, waiting for all cyclists to clear the course so i could be driven back to the parking lot, where i snuck out with my tail between my legs and my jaw still aching from trying to keep my teeth from chattering too violently.

can't wait to return to the barrens -- that is, if the barrens are still there and not burnt to a cinder.