3000.

The writing's small, but it's there.

Today, with a measly 4 mile run, I broke the 3000 mile barrier on my Nike+. For a technically-obsessed, love-the-numbers-guy like me, it's a big deal.

(For those of you who have a Garmin, the Nike+ is what runners whose wives won't let them spend $400 on a watch wear.)

I'm feeling a mixture of elation and disappointment.

I'm totally thrilled to hit the milestone, but I also realize that if I had been able to keep my mileage the same as the previous two years, I'd have smashed through ages ago. (I started tracking in September 2009.) There was a whole month this summer where I didn't run once.

(For those of you who don't run, some of  us have Runner's Guilt - we feel guilty when we don't run, don't run far enough, don't run fast enough, see other people running when we're not, etc...)

I'm going to focus on the positives: I ran well, it felt good, and I could almost feel the Holiday Bulge starting to work off my gut. 

My one critique of Nike, though: when I crossed the 1000 mile marker and logged in, there was much fanfare - same at 2000 miles. Today? Nothing. Just a reminder that I need to run 105 more miles to reach the next "level". What's the next level, Nike? Nirvana? Enlightenment? Will I be able to juggle while running a 7-minute mile? Throw me a bone, here.

I kind of feel like a hamster on a wheel.

Sure, it's a totally buff hamster with sweet legs, but a hamster nonetheless.








Later.