Carrie A. lays upon the road that I must travel.

This is Nina.

Rain yesterday, a lot of rain. So, you know. Fuck that, I'm not doing it. I'm not heading out in the dark to get sopping wet, running eight miles and tearing up my feet. Once upon a time I might have done that, felt compelled to do that, because training. But I'm getting older and I just can't be bothered. I don't run in cold temperatures as much as I used to, and I hate getting cold and wet.

Speaking of putting up with shit, Nina has written another dynamite article which is (ahem) getting a lot of traction. A Lifelong Runner, Sidelined By Disability was posted on Folks yesterday, and you should read it. Nina has a rock and roll attitude, and she has chosen to express recent (and in some cases, life-long) pain and hardship and translate them into essays devoid of self-pity that resonate with honesty, anger and gratitude.

"I’ve been running since middle school. I was never the fastest, never ran the longest distance, but I placed occasionally and enjoyed it immensely. I had to quit the track team in high school because we couldn’t afford the costs of participation, including expensive new running shoes." [READ THE REST]

Distance: 8 miles
Duration: 1:08:22
Pace: 8:32
Route: Forest Hill to Cain Park to Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 69°
Climate: sunny!
Mood: good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

What's that mondegreen?
Kýrie, eléison, down the road that I must travel.
- "Kyrie" by Mister Mister

So, I did it. I listened to a playlist made of the top 100 Billboard hits from the year 1986. While I understood why it has been deemed the most bland and tedious year in popular music history, I never really understood. The music I like is actually diverse and interesting, if heavy with synth horns and that irritating stuttering effect they used on all the remixes.

No, it's the ballads. Then as now, when either That's What Friends Are For or The Greatest Love of All begin, you don't know which song you are about to hear. Secret Lovers sounds like Friends and Lovers sounds like The Glory of Love. It was a real education, and let us never speak of it again.

Baseline: 179.5 lbs.
Today: 161 lbs. (-3.5)
Goal: 160 lbs.

Uhm. Okay?