Brilliant!

Ah, Nick is now a contributor, and as Don makes progress in his recovery, I can't help but get caught up in his enthusiasm for running again. Two words for that: "Brrrilliant!" (For the record, I know I mistyped that word, but have decided to keep it for a dramatic, tony-the-tiger effect.) Julie, that dog will have you out running with it in no time just to get its hyper ass to sleep through the night! ;)
I was actually considering writing about my current ambivalence towards running. I simply have not been able to get excited about it. It must be mid-training lethargy. Or mono. But I won't now. Nope.

Because as they say at the UC- "Four drunk runners ain't nothin' to fuck wit'!"

Ah, yes. On to the run(s)

Sundays run: 14 miles
Time: 2:02:19
Overall Impression: As Good As Fourteen Miles Can Get Really But I Jammed My Knee (AGAFMCGRBIJMK)

Yesterday's Run: 7 miles
Time:1:02:04
Overall Impression: At First Nervous About Knee Then Just Happy It didn't Rain (AFNAKTJHIDR)

I'm realy not sure if I like this part of the training schedule more than the previous one. I'm down to running three times a week, but the distances are getting longer. On the one hand, there is less of a day-to-day grind. On the other hand, the runs cohere less. It's harder not to view them as isolated jaunts, as opposed to(more desirably) part of a larger goal. I spent a good twenty minutes yesterday scouring my email for an excuse to delay running. Then, when I couldn't find anything, I checked the news, hoping for either a disaster or a good celebrity divorce, only to be disappointed again.
Both runs went pretty well though. I'm still slower than I was earlier, but not by too much. I'm trying to find a good balance of staying relaxed, but while still moving forward. I don't want to strain anything, but I am slowly realizing that after I run for 2 hours, it doesn't matter whether I have run 14 miles (Sunday) or twelve miles (previous Sunday)my legs get just about equally tired. I might as well take the result that puts me a little closer to the finish line. All the same, just under 9 minute miles seems to be where my comfort zone is on the long runs right now, and I'm afraid to mess with the formula too much. Other than the fact I desperately need new shoes...
Midway through Sunday's run in Germany's best rendition of the English countryside (right around six miles) a German dog, about the size of a forest yeti, ran into me and tweaked me leg a little. I felt a small twinge in my knee, but kept moving on.
Now, don't get me started on Germany's leash laws. They take the dogs on subways, people. Hell, when I worked in a bookstore, I had to contstantly fend off owners who wanted to let their dogs run around and drool on everything. Books are made of paper. Paper doesn't like drool. I digress.
Anyway, as I was getting closer to the finish, I hit a small downhill slope and jammed the same knee a little, which made an "oh!" sort of feeling in that "not so good" way.
Then on Monday, or maybe Tuesday, but definitely not Wednesday, I was walking with Tessa and plotting yet another pub crawl through Cologne. I do this even though I have neither the finances nor time for such a crawl. Its just that there are so many damn bars in this town, and I need a way of sorting them. This particular plan involved hitting all the bars in our area that lie on street corners whch don't meet at a 90 degree angle. There are a lot. At one point, I felt a twinge in my knee, and started to get a little, um, nervous.
So, long story short, yesterday was a test run on the knee. I am happy to say, that there were no problems to report. My quad just above the knee seemed a bit tight, but I stretched it into oblivion, and now it seems to be okay. I never really pushed things too hard yesterday, and don't plan to tomorrrow either. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that I was just being paranoid.

The enemy deserves no mercy. There's no mercy in this dojo!