Training with Gatti

The first year I trained for the Austin marathon Mr Gatti's pizza was my motivation. For every new distance I ran (and before that point the longest I had run was 10k) I rewarded myself with a Mr Gatti's pizza that night. I vividly remember being at mile 16 of my first 30k and promising myself 16" of pepperoni, mushrooms and Italian sausage if I could only run those last few miles without stopping. It worked too.

Well, this morning I woke up with a stuffy head (and probably running a fever) and really didn't want to get up to run. If I wasn't coaching a group I would probably have stayed in bed, but I got up and ran a so-so 13 miles. To add to that, the weather has suddenly turned cold (it was 38F when we started). Do I feel guilty about not doing more? Heck no - I think I've done enough over the last month and was probably due a break anyway (especially with the San Antonio marathon next week). When I got home, I listened online to the BBC's radio coverage of the Wales rugby team playing the world champion South Africans. They lost 20-15 and wasted a great chance to win the game in the last minute, which didn't make me feel much better. By this afternoon I was enjoying my own little pity party when Nancy suggested we pick up a Mr Gatti's pizza for supper. Ah, she knows exactly how to cheer me up (even when I don't). I haven't had one for over a year and some comfort food sounded like an excellent idea. Let me tell you, it was every bit as good as I remember. The day I don't enjoy a Mr Gatti's pizza is the day I know I'm really sick.

And on a completely different note, here's a tip for all you linux users who have a hotmail account. You may find that the new version of Microsoft "windows live" blocks you from creating or replying to hotmail messages under linux. To get around this, you have to fool hotmail into thinking you are running windows by using an agent switcher. See this article on how to do it.