Skeptical Conditioning

A hangover rarely keeps me from running. I like my "detox runs" to sweat out the last vestiges of BAC, stomp away that peculiar feeling behind my left eyeball, and generally regain my balance. Detox runs return me to even.

However, after embarking on two such runs this weekend after two particularly active evenings, I'm a little doubtful of my training practices. An unusual feeling in my right knee hinted that perhaps I should not be running on Sunday even though it was quite nice outside. I ran an aborted 7 miles, cutting my run short at 2.5 miles.

Another fine day yesterday -- with no boozing for 36 hours -- had me itching to make up for my weekend failures. Yet, my knee still felt wonky. There's a 15K this weekend, but now I'm wondering if that is a good idea. I really don't want to delay my first race, no matter how terribly I run. But I also don't want to be laid up for a couple weeks with a for-serious injury.

And Runners' World said beer was good for my running. Of course, so did I. As the article says, alcohol can delay injury recovery. Can it also cause injury? I mean, other than stumbling into a telephone pole.

Runabout
That crazy Dean Karnazes guy has a neat idea for a day's run. He calls it the "runabout" on his Runners' World blog. The runabout is pretty much what it sounds like. Step out your front door and run about, supplied with some supplies, but without much of a plan -- run some errands, take some breaks, stop for coffee, but just keep moving forward. Too bad Ohio doesn't allow open containers, or else I'd runabout with a beer to go. If only there were a pub with a track inside ... hmm ... anyone got any venture capital?