He does go on.

Obsessive???? Who have you been talking to?

Has someone told you that I wear my running shorts to bed and sleep with my jersey under my pillow? ( I would wear my shoes as well but certain people have made objections.) But that's not obsessive, that's just having a primed sense of being prepared. Or as a friend of mine says "Being pre-prepared."

Or did someone report that I asked at the hotel desk for a copy of the running course map and when presented with one which showed a four and half mile circle through the campus of Fairleigh Dickinson College said "What? That's it?" (Yes, we went to a three day wedding. Yes, I ran every day of it and then met George for a run on the Monday morning after....) but that not obsessive, that enthusiastic.

I suppose some people have spouted off about what I pack in my suitcase when we are going to Florida. I pack the non-essential stuff, underwear, dress shirt and summer weight suit, shaving gear, cameras, regular shorts and tee-shirts. In my carry-on I carry my shoes and running shorts, sunglasses, sunscreen and jersey. That way when they lose my luggage I can still have a run down the beach at sunrise. But that's not obsessive, that shows a reasonable response to a likely future scenario. I like to fly wearing jeans, a long sleeved shirt and loafers (for the frigging security checks.) What am I supposed to do when they lose the bag? Run in my jeans and loafers?

Okay, so maybe that one time, when I didn't really NEED to run in the airport to catch a plane or anything, I did spend about a hour jogging up and down the long corridor, but that was just practice in case I ever DO need to run to Gate 84. (It's about a quarter of a mile and my best interval was a 1:48. I could have done better but the frigging baby buggies and kids were everywhere.)(AND I was wearing jeans and loafers.) But that's not obsessive, that's uh, good use of available time for practice.

And now that I do not have to get up every morning at four I am enjoying sleeping in, thank you very much. I still wake up, but now I roll over and dream that I am running in the early morning fog..... A lone biker zips me past in the nearly perfect silence, only the sound of my feet and breathing, the murmurs of the waking morning breeze in the leaves and the singular call of a distant bird create this small universe. The thoughts in my head are cast aside as my eyes drift upward to gaze at the streetlights at the top of the long hill. At the crest a long shadow of a runner appears in front of me, striding out before me down the other side. It takes me a moment to recognize the shape and the rhythm of the form.

Joe(Holy Cow.. is that me?)Nation