Day 6 - Everybody's High on Consolation and Jeff Galloway

"Everybody's high on consolation."  These were the first words most of us ever heard from Hall and Oates. It's the opening line from their mega hit first song, "She's Gone."  Consolation is what I needed about 12:30 this morning as I contemplated the conflict between not being able to sleep and going on a long run in a few hours.  I woke up about 90 minutes after I went to bed last night and just couldn't sleep.  I came across Hall and Oates, "Hot Fun in the Summertime" version of the Sly and the Family Stone song.  It was recorded 30 years ago at a fundraiser for the Statue of Liberty.

After successfully going back to bed and picking up 5 hours of sleep, I woke up, and as fast as could, I went out the door to hit the roads.  The legs were a little stiff.  The will to run was slightly challenged and the thought of doing a long run had me in a Larry David type of mood of indifference.  I didn't want to "curb my enthusiasm." The decision had already been made that H&O would be running with me today but how?  I then decided on the method.  I was like the baseball manager
yelling into the dugout, "Galloway!!! You're up!" Jeff Galloway, former Olympian at the Olympics in Munich, has launched hundreds of thousands of marathoners with his run/walk method.  Does it work? Ask Bill Rodgers.  Though it wasn't defined as such in 1975, that year "Boston" Billy won the hometown marathon on Patriots Day 1975 after stopping to take a drink of water, tying his shoe, and perhaps doing a little site seeing.

Jeff Galloway has made a living showing many marathoners the path to participation in the 26.2 event.  He will be at the Akron Marathon this year. For me, Jeff came off the bench this morning. His method needed.

The temperature was about 68 degrees with a slight gentle breeze with the sun starting to climb the eastern sky.  "Run for two minutes, walk for a minute, listen to Hall and Oates and repeat as many times as needed," is what the prescription in my head said.  This was an eight mile run. The next two weeks are 13 and 14 respectively on Sunday. This would be the end of week three of the Hal Higdon program.  I make it today and "Hell Week," the first three weeks in my mind, would be over.  My favorite saying came to mind. "I don't care if the horses are blind. Let's load the wagons and go."

These are some of the scenes around the countryside surrounding Vermilion, Ohio and it's northern neighbor, Lake Erie. The first two photos were classic views on the run.

This the underpass on Barnes Road outside of Vermilion. In addition to the wooded area on both sides, there is a stream that flows on and under the road at the train bridge. The woods on either side provide protection if all of a sudden you have to, um, have to, oh, you know what I mean.

This is the end of Barnes Road where you get your first view of Lake Erie on the return route. The lake was flat except for the wake of these kayaks which wasn't much.

Negotiating train tracks is part of the deal on countryside runs but I like trains so this is a reward for me for going out.

And another one comes by. Hey did you notice that the corn looks pretty darn good.

I love this picture.  Look at that farm operation. This is quite an impressive site when you are either

running or riding a bike. 

So let's review today's events. Inspired by Hall and Oates at 12:30 a.m.  Not really feeling it. I find motivation from our musical duo of the day, Bill Rodgers, Larry David, and the favorable weather. The pathway to completion is shown by the training methodology of Jeff Galloway. And then some of the scenes along the way were their own reward and there were more than I am showing. The jury is in. Week 3 of the training is successfully completed. Consider me high on consolation.  Thank you teammates!