the continuing saga of the leaky runner

so, i've established that i'm a leaky runner. i leak. lots. and, in addition to being a leaky runner, i generate lather on hard days. lather, like a horse. i'm freaky like that. sometimes it's a little embarrassing, especially when it gets heavy. on one occasion, it looked like i'd had a milkshake poured down my shorts. but see...it's not too embarrassing when wearing running shorts, because it runs down the thighs and evaporates. and in most cases, it's hardly noticeable.

but yesterday, that changed. yesterday was a warm, humid day here in southern california, and i had a 10 miler on the schedule. at 11am, it was still early enough that the morning marine layer hadn't completely cleared out, so there was plenty of moisture in the air to generate copious amounts of perspiration. not uncommon conditions in southern california, but the one thing different about yesterdays run was the choice of shorts.

i bought a pair of compression shorts a while back to wear under some regular shorts that had started chaffing, but didn't like the feel of the two pairs and stopped wearing them. so, out of monetary obligation, i take the compression shorts out for a run every so often. i hate to see that money sitting in the closet, doing nothing. but after yesterday, i think those runs may become even fewer and more far between.

see, in compression shorts, the perspiration and lather don't really run down the legs all that well. not only that, but the moisture gravitates to areas on the shorts where the fabric is...um...stretched more. so, i'm running along, all happy and having a great run when i notice that the people i'm passing are looking at me funny, and i'm getting glances at my...um...groin. i'm thinking to myself, these shorts aren't THAT bad...but it wasn't until i looked down while putting one of my fuelbelt bottles away that i realized why i'd been getting looks.

okay...mom...don't read this next bit...

so, the perspiration and lather has been collecting for a while...almost seven miles at this point, and nestled nicely at the head of my...um...package is a dollup of lather, about the size of a golf ball. i scoop it away and it fills my palm, like shaving cream. for the next three miles of the run, which had me working harder at the pace, thus generating more lather in the same particular area, i would have to routinely scoop away the whipped cream topping from my lil friend.

what is it with me and these embarrassing moments and my groin? if it isn't wiener-bite, it's wiener-foam. sheesh. can't a runner get a break?

eastern sierras

of gauntlets and 140.6 miles

what was the conversation that smsmh and i had last week? oh yeah...that i was feeling like i was rudderless? that my training didn't feel right without an "a" race to focus on? yeah...that conversation.

well, that has...um...changed. at a birthday lunch for some close friends of ours today, another couple, whom we've run with in the past, mentioned a certain event in florida in november of 2007. and said event has been blessed by smsmh. i'm keeping the fingers crossed that a year is plenty of time to train up for this thing.

woohoo! consider me stoked.

right here, right now

i was alive and i waited, waited i was alive and i waited for this right here, right now there is no other place i want to be right here, right now watching the world wake up from history

-jesus jones

one of the most vivid memories i have of this song is from iraq. i'm laying on the hood of a humvee, basking in the sun while parked on the bank of the tigris river, just outside of zakho. i'm with two good friends from my unit and we had a radio that was able to pick up afes, who just happened to be playing the above song. as i let the middle eastern sun bake my skin, those words hung in the air. i'd just finished reading candide by voltaire and couldn't help but make the comparison. i still had both of my buttcheeks, but i was sitting in the cradle of civilization, helping mop up the kurdish fallout of the first gulf war. everything was for the best and there was no other place that i wanted to be.

life has been challenging over the past few months; the drama with the girls (which continues to go on and on and on), a quite heavy load of projects at work, bug fixes and enhancements for btt to complete, a training schedule with no goal race to prep for, a bloglines backlog nearing 1000 entries, a neglected blog that is drunk dialing me at 3am and asking if i still love it, and only one article for crn after they've been live for over a month now. all of which have conspired to put me in somewhat of a funk.

that said, i know it's a funk, i know the causes and i know i'm more than capable of keeping my head above water. it's a matter of prioritizing, cutting back where necessary and just moving forward. so, i'm slowly but surely rolling my stone uphill. i'm back on the bike, on the road and in the pool this week, writing a blog entry right now and who knows, maybe i'll get the five crn articles floating around my head submitted. so, while not visible, i'm still here, just a little quiet for a bit, and honestly?

right here, right now, there is no other place i want to be.