Wednesday, January 2, 2008

The New Year's Run

My friend Therese hosts a gaggle of us for a New Years morning blow out. Therese won the Richmond Marathon back in the day, and in her mid-fifties is still running and whooping up on her much younger com padres. The run is designed to highlight her strengths, hills, and beat the crap out of the rest of us mortals.

And I mean beat the crap out of us. Therese lives on the bluffs above the James River, and the run is the old Forest Hill Park 10k course. Think long up and downs, with steep sections thrown in to make you cry... Even better when half the really young stud muffins had been out drinking all night and were just rolling in as the gun went off! I think that was Cliff's favorite part, you know, hurting the kids until they barfed.

Me, that was the hilliest run I've done in years, and I did it, but was one of the ones in sufferfest zone. I know this stuff is good for me. Sure they are. Hills are our friends. Which is like saying that you should eat asparagus because its good for you. Uh-huh.

After the run always comes the post ride breakfast and popping for distance contests. That's akin to peeing for distance, but with champagne. All in all, there is just not a better way to bring in the new year than with a lot of suffering, and then champagne to make it all better.

And Therese is going to have a good new year... at the end of the month she sells her gracious old house and moves into a swanky new condo in the bottom right on the river. We sure are going to miss the old place. Plus, she rode my Merlin, Flash, yesterday and is probably going to buy it, and concentrate on doing tri's next year. Its a great bike for a great lady. Knowing that Flash will have such a great person makes the parting a wee bit easier.

So happy New Year everyone. Now get back to work!

No comments: