"It's Just Another Day . . ."

I was going to post the lyrics to that song by Wings 'cause it's stuck in my head - but then I actually looked up the lyrics and they were really depressing. Here's a better one:

Slow down, you move too fast.You got to make the morning last.Just kicking down the cobble stones.Looking for fun and feelin' groovy.Ba da, Ba da, Ba da, Ba da...Feelin' Groovy.

Hello lamp-post,What cha knowin'?I've come to watch your flowers growin'.Ain't cha got no rhymes for me?Doot-in' doo-doo,Feelin' groovy.

I've got no deeds to do,No promises to keep.I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep.Let the morning time drop all its petals on me.Life, I love you,All is groovy.

I guess both songs sorta reflect my mood. I feel like I'm just hangin' out letting the time pass until marathon day. I've done my long runs. I've done my interval workouts. I've done some stretching. I'm drinking water and not altering my caffeine status - paranoia after my migraine last weekend and not knowing what to attribute it to. Today's my last day of spicy food, beer, and my ice-cream bar splurge. (see, there's too many migraine triggers to tell) Time to make sure I'm going to bed on time and not getting up early. I don't even wanna do any more garden work or deep-cleaning 'cause I don't want to expend the energy or make my back muscles sore. I know, it's just a run. But I get wiggy before a marathon. I'm at the point now where I just wanna get the dang thing over with. Bring it on. I just wanna RUN! I did run today. Three miles. Hilarious distance when you've been marathon training. I like the 'hood, but I miss running long. On my short runs, I can look out across the bay and see the bluffs where I go on my long runs. I'm looking forward to what I get to see on the marathon course. I know it's not as scenic as I'd like. And although it runs out on a peninsula, you really don't get ideal water views. But each day is different on any run, so I still get to see what I can see - like the bear who went over the mountain, I guess.

You know, though, I did get to see something really cool this week. It was a low tide week, and you know what that means? Beach runs, of course. With two beach runs in one week I was in seventh heaven. It's sorta like trail running cause of the rocks and barnacles in parts, but I was careful. I was running along and saw an eagle. Pretty cool. I've seen then before in the area. It's a saltwater bay, with a huge wooded preserve nearby. At low tide I'm sure there are lots of things for herons and eagles to eat. Anyhow, it was cool being right down on the beach with the eagle while I was running - it was probably about 30 yards away. I went down the beach a ways and came back. In that time, I watched 3 other eagles all converge on the area. Twice, one of them had swooped down, caught a fish, then dropped it. Really amazing to watch. I've never seen 4 eagles all at once, thought. No, not true. I've driven to their winter nesting grounds a few hours away, but then they are up in the trees. These guys were so close. Only one of them had a white head - I'm not sure if that meant the others were younger or not, and I haven't researched it. To top it off, I ran up off the beach and through the park past the geese with all of their goslings sleeping under the tree in the shade. A week ago, I went to a nearby park on the lake - saw an eagle, a heron, and a geese family all at the swimming beach. Really weird. It's like I have some sort of bird magnetism this Spring. It's not like I haven't run in these places before - just haven't seen so many birds. And I live in the city - that's what else is strange. You'd think the birds would find somewhere more remote - it's not like eagles or herons scavenge off of people like pigeons and seagulls.

Okay, while I'm on my bird tangent. I gotta mention something else. There is a place in the county I live in with an amazing blue heron colony. Last year there were over 100 nests. It's amazing to go and stand on the river and look up in the trees. You can see tons of these huge nests, and watch herons flying around, fishing, teaching their young to fly, etc. When you're standing there, it's like a prehistoric place. The birds are so large it's as if you were watching pterodactyls.

Okay, bird tangent is over. I need to occupy my thoughts about something other than running for a few days or I'll go crazy. Every time I think about running I go into anxiety mode. I'm ready now. I just want Sunday to come faster. I need to harness all the anxiety and unleash it on race day. I think the way I'm feeling I might go out runnin' a five minute mile and have some serious burnout by mile 2. I don't really think I could run a 5 minute mile, though. I guess that's a good thing, come marathon day. I get to go to a track meet today - that's not gonna help me not think about running, but at least I'll be entertained. Watching other people run sorta gets me pumped up anyway. And then I suppose I can read running blogs and get inspired by all the things everyone else is out there doing.

Ah, the mailman just brought a package. The little things in life that make me happy . . .