Rice Street Mile

This is Americana at its best. The one-mile race kicks off the parade, and people of the neighborhood line Rice Street in St Paul with their lawn chairs and blankets, munching on snacks, with the delightful smells of charcoal cooking in the air.

Off we went at the gun, barrelling down the middle of the street as fast as we could for a mile, my own personal goal to NOT finish LAST. I made it in 6:43, finishing 72nd of 76 males, with the last guy more than a minute behind me. Whew. I'd have done better in the women's race! To be fair to me, though, a lot of fast young guys ran the race; the winner finished in 4:13, and 26 men finished under 5:00.

No pains or strains, except I breathed so hard that it irritated my throat, and I coughed a lot and tasted a little blood.

I ran the 2006 Rice Street Mile in 5:54, so this was about 50 seconds slower. In January of this year, before any myeloma treatment, I ran an indoor mile in 6:12, so this was about 30 seconds slower. I'm not unhappy with yesterday's time, though. It'll do for now. But I'm going to find ways to get some of my speed back, despite the dexamethasone. Just wait and see!

	Breakfast: Gluten-free oatmeal with organic flame raisins and dried cranberries, cantaloupe, blueberries, organic strawberries, mango, walnuts, nonfat organic milk.
	Dinner: Wild-caught Pacific sockeye salmon with yogurt and herbs, chard with dried cranberries and pistachios, organic strawberries.