Since moving to Dripping Springs, I’ve been really good about training.  Mostly, I’m running right now.  I do a lot of treadmill running, which I’m finding is actually helping me get faster.  I set the treadmill a little faster than I’m actually comfortable with and run for ten minutes.  Then I walk for a few minutes and do it again.  When I hit the trails on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, running felt easy. 

Thanksgiving morning I went for a 30 mile ride from my house.  It was 45 degrees when we started, but the cold didn’t affect the quality of the ride.  It was wonderful. 

I meant to go for a ride today but I bailed on the ride to finish readying Andre Agassi’s Open.  It’s a really good book.  I was drawn in by the opening paragraphs on how lonely a sport tennis is.  It’s about the only sport where you are isolated from the moment the game starts.  You can’t talk to coaches, friends or family.  You are out there by yourself until the match is over.  The book spoke a bit about how much tennis players talk to themselves as a result, often in a way that’s not healthy.  It was really a great book, particularly if you love Agassi or tennis.

I opted not to bike or swim.  I just ran, and it felt good.  The best was running along the seawall in Corpus Christi yesterday.  It was a beautiful, slightly warm morning.  Except for the smell of dead fish – apparently the result of a red tide – it was a perfect morning. 

I’ve put on a good bit of weight since my surgery in August.  I need to get to losing it.  This week of steady running was a good start.  My body responds pretty quickly to exercise.  Between now and the end of the year, I think I can lost the weight I’ve gained, which is about eight pounds.  That’s the plan.  I’m eating better, eating less, and exercising more. 

I’m just over five and a half months from St. George.  Focus.  Focus.  It’ll be here before I know it.