21: Electric Toes

This is a big weekend for runners. Three weeks before the marathon, it's recommended that you run 20 miles in one shot to prepare. After that, it's all taper down. So everywhere you looked around the city today there were small clubs and individuals hitting the Park and the streets. I'm going to do my long run tomorrow.

I knew before I went to bed last night that I'd have to do something today to get out of my funk. I needed an intervention. Something only intenSati could deliver in under an hour. So, I found a free class at 9AM at Equinox, took it, and began taking my cure. After class I plopped myself in the steam room and tried to sweat out all the complication in my life. Ice shower! And then back to sweat again. I left a lot of baggage on that tiled floor.

Next I went with a friend for a pedicure. I haven't had one in a month and it was a complete train wreck down there. Blood blisters, callouses. The poor lady assigned to the job wrapped my feet in acid, scraped, and looked very unsatisfied. I finally had to tell her it was OK, she could stop. "Next week we'll do more," I assured her. When it came time to pick the color, I felt like I need to do something radical to inspire me to run 20 miles! I picked neon pink. I figured, with those electric beauties in my shoes, I'd have added power to keep going! And I love them...

Then I went on to misuse my day entirely by enjoying it and ignoring the millions other things I needed to do. My system was so run down, so depressed and panicked, it took a long while to respond to proper care and treatment. That happens in life. The more you let things slide, the harder it is to bounce back. I do remember that - and yet sometimes it's difficult to prevent it from happening.

At the tail end of the day I decided to take the plunge and buy that darn Garmin watch I've been yapping about. When I went to the store though, I had a new salesperson, and she gave me some new data points about the Garmin that made it seem less ideal (like it doesn't get a signal in Central Park! or indoors! ...and a new model is coming out in a month!) that caused me to redirect to the simple but effective Timex. No bells or whistles. Just the time, the splits, light and easy to use. Done.

I may not have checked a lot off my list today, but I did what it turned out I most needed to do. And what could be more important than that?