A Rose Is A Rose...

There was some talk on the Runner's World Forum about when is one considered a "marathoner"?  After one marathon?  Two?  Multiple?  A survey was taken, and most said after one with plans to do another. I know in my own warped mind I didn't feel right about purchasing and flaunting the much envied 26.2 car magnet (much envied only by me) until Marathon Two.  Someone wrote that only the elite professionals are marathoners, the rest of us are just runners who happen to run marathons.  Yes, we are all runners.  If you want to call yourself a marathoner, by all means.  Really, who cares?

Once the weather warms up, I am going to return to the track for some speed workouts.  Last year I was PRing all over the place.  This winter, not so much.  Judging from last year's races, I may be an endurance runner, rather than a speedster.  This is unusual, it's typically easier to improve one's speed over endurance.  Annoying.  I want it all!

I took the day off today.  I didn't sleep well last night.  I have been running an average of 30 miles per week (mpw).  Now that the weather is improving, I may step it up to 36.  I started reading What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami last year.  When not racing, he runs 36 mpw.  When I first read that, I thought, "Ugh."  only because I found it hard to work around my husband and children's schedules.  Now,  I think I've got the juggling down pat.  I also have to stop feeling guilty about not being with the kids 24/7.  I mean, that's ridiculous.  It can be done.

Postscript:  Who's the sick sadist who invented "Mega Stuf Oreos"?  I just bought a package "for my son".  He's dairy allergic and very limited to what kinds of snacks he can eat.  I usually don't buy the artificial Fat-In-A-Bag snacks, but I will occasionally for him since he's probably the healthiest eater in the family, otherwise.  I had to "test" the cookies, kind of like what the kings' servants would do for them to make sure the food wasn't poisoned.  I know the food is poison, but I still felt I should test it out for him for principle's sake.   So I had three.  Actually, two and a half because part of the chocolate lid was missing on one.  It was good, artificially speaking.  I happened to notice that the word "stuff" on the packaging was spelled "stuf" - just one F.  It's bad enough that they're calling it stuff (accurately describing it would be  too upsetting to the consumer, I'm sure), but it isn't even stuff!  It's stuf!  Worse than stuff.  Excuse me while I stuf my face with another throw them away.