Mary Anne is in India for 12 days, which is pretty strange. Strange to have your wife literally halfway around the world, immersed in a totally different culture and place from your own, while your daily life goes on like normal. Just odd. She's adjusting well so far, and has thus far avoided any negative results from the food and water. There's even Diet Coke there, so she's got everything she needs, right?

Saw Eliot Fisk do an hour's presentation at McCallum High School today, for the guitar program kids there. He's an engaging fellow, and almost bewilderingly knowledgeable about the pieces and composers. I had the opportunity to question him afterwards about the Bach Prelude I'm learning, and he confirmed my feelings about the piece...that I should stick to the notes that Bach actually wrote, and not to get too carried away with the extra notes that are possible on the guitar as opposed to the solo cello that the Prelude was originally composed for.

It's turned damned cold here today, on a sort of gray overcast blustery day. It will soon pass, this being Austin, but for a bit, it makes everyone just a little bit cranky.

Well, I've been working on my training plan for the Spring, leading up to the Indianapolis 500 Mini Marathon in May, referencing Jeff Galloway, Hal Higdon, and Bob Glover's various ideas on half marathon training. This week and next are basically recovery weeks following Motorola, but after that, it'll be time to get back to speedy stuff for the spring. I may try joining Gilbert's Gazelles training program for a 6 week cycle, to get the benefit of an actual hands-on coach twice a week for form work and speed training. It would mean getting up early enough to get there by 6:00 am on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I'm not sure how that would fit into things.

Worked out the old Troggs song "Love Is All Around" today, in both DADGAD and standard tuning, so I'll play with it over the next few days and see which way I prefer it, and then I'll make a little demo recording of it for my own amusement.

Have watched with amusement the rantings of the Boston Red Sox owner, railing against the Yankees and saying that Baseball needs a salary cap to keep the game sacred...this from the owner of the team SECOND in payroll in the entire industry. While a cap is probably needed, we certainly don't need to hear about it from the guy who has authorized more payroll than all teams but one.

I ran the Motorola Marathon yesterday, and I did about as well as I expected. I ran 4:51:12, chip time, about 11:07/mile. I took two brief rest stops during the race, totalling 3 minutes, which takes my actual running time to 4:48:12, right at my goal pace of 11:00/mile. It was a perfect day for marathoning, about 35 degrees at the start and warming to 55 or so at the finish, on a crystal clear day. No real wind to speak of, and generally nice all the way.

I like the experience of training for the marathon, perhaps more than the actual race itself, because of the comraderie of the training group I run with. But, the race can be fun, as a vehicle to watch the runners around you and the spectators along the route. I always marvel that so many people are willing to put themselves through the stress of running 26.2 miles for a t-shirt and a medal, but time after time, you see them out there. All shapes and sizes of folks, some in shape, some not, but all with a determination to finish the race, whether it's their first or fiftieth marathon.

So, now I get some time away from extreme distance training, as I focus on shorter races (and most races ARE shorter than a marathon) and getting faster.

I'm on the Blog now, so watch this space for musings on the world at large...