In search of my long lost abs - Part 2

Some months ago I embarked on a quest of sorts in search of my long-lost abs. I had last seen them approximately 26 years ago, circa 1982. Unlike a good red wine, abs don't improve with age. To the contrary. If you don't pay attention to them, they go the way of those funky root vegetables in the far back corner of the vegetable tray in the fridge. First they go pale and limp and then slowly turn to mush, eventually morphing into a modern-day version of the primeval sludge.

Well I am happy to report that my abs don't seem to have disappeared forever like their contemporaries, the abominable eighties hairstyles and those awful big eye-glasses which we thought were cool back then. As a result of that all-time low point in the history of fashion, I still inwardly cringe upon looking at our wedding photographs.

As for the abs, why do I think that my search has not been a quixotic undertaking? Well I attracted some undue attention shall we say, from a group of women in a car the other day, as I was waiting to cross the road, towards the end of my usual Buffalo Bayou run. I should have winked. At least I smiled.

Perhaps more pertinently, one of our Runners World Boston 2009 forumites (Kari) commented on my 'nice abs' the other day, referring to the avatar photo. And yet another forumite - Smick - thought that I was 'totally ripped'. While I think she might be guilty of just the tiniest of overstatements, I will take the compliment gladly. Most of us - myself included - are overly critical of our physical shortcomings. We would have designed ourselves just a little bit better. If only we could be bigger here, smaller there, a little bit taller, heavier, lighter, ripped, smooth, tanned or toned, the world would be a wonderful place. True. This kind of thinking does make the world a wonderful place - for cosmetic surgeons. Meanwhile the rest of us are thrilled to drop a few pounds here and there, gain an inch or two where we want to, and fit into a pair of 'old favorite' pants previously destined for the Goodwill store. So thank you Kari and Smick and those four women in the Honda on the Beltway 8 feeder road last week. I will be tackling the 'Ab Ripper' exercises with renewed enthusiasm - patently all is not lost!

Running has been clicking along pretty smoothly this week; I am taking it easy so that I will have some gas in the tank on Sunday morning in San Antonio, for the half marathon. Here is what I've done so far this week:

Sunday: AM: 10k rowing on the C-2; 500 meter slow/fast intervals. Fast for me is 2 minutes for 500 meters. Slow is 2:30+

Monday: AM: 6 miles easy (9:17 pace) including 4 short hill repeats.
PM: Full 40-minute weights workout.

Tuesday: AM: 5k rowing, 500 meter slow/fast intervals.
PM: 5 mile track workout at Memorial High School including 4 X 800 meter repeats ranging from 3:14 to 3:20. I might have done more but it was raining and miserable.

Wednesday: AM: 20-minute Ab Ripper X workout.
PM: Planning an easy 5 mile run along Buffalo Bayou.