Betterness by Kawika Holbrook

90 Minute Bike Run With the Dog

Ran the first hour with the wife on the bike and the dog all over Los Gatos Creek Trail. Dropped the dog off at the house after the first hour and tried some speed training for the next half hour. The wife's taking a bubble bath. The Niners are playing their last game of the season. The dog's asleep at my feet. And a Crackleflame fire log's burning in the fireplace.

It's a good Sunday afternoon.

Two-Hour Nike Run on Christmas Day

Spent a couple hours before opening presents on a bike run. I donned the sneakers and my mom and wife got on the bikes. Ran from the house to the Los Gatos Creek Trail, up the "Evil Twins" to the reservoir and back.

04:41:14

Time will tell if I try another marathon, but today's soggy race really kicked my ass. Two weeks ago I ran 20 miles in 03:03. It took me more than an hour and a half to run an extra 6.2 miles. My iPod broke. My nipples bled. My thighs turned into cement somewhere out of Hawaii Kai. And I was a wreck at the finish line, barely able to move through the runners pens to get my finisher's t-shirt. I laid in muddy grass for 15 minutes before hobbling a quarter mile to the Outrigger Canoe Club for a soak in the ocean, one of six steps for a "speedy recovery", but right now I'm happy that I ran it and I'm happy that it's over. I'm also impressed with the logistics and volunteers of the event. More than 27,000 people started the race in a thundershower. Apparently, the marathon ultimately adds $100 million to the economy -- half of it on swag at Niketown. The tremendous support from volunteers along every mile the course must be one reason why people keep coming back. Those ice-cold sponges, Vaseline samples and shouts of encouragement probably knocked 20 minutes off my time. I might even return next year ... if I can get my legs to work again.

There Goes the Neighborhood

We just heard five or six gunshots across the street. Last month someone was gunned down four blocks from our house. Thankfully, we weren't the only people who called 911, and the sirens came around five minutes later. Still, I go running at night on these streets. My wife walks the dog when I'm otherwise occupied. Our new neighbors take their infant daughter out for strolls to calm her colic. This does not bode well.