Getting back into it

(Before I begin this post, let me say that there has been a delay in the marathon video, but I should have it up sometime Wednesday.)

So, its been 8 days since the marathon and I'm already thinking about when I'm going to do the next one.

But my body still needs to heal up. I'm probably at 90 percent now. I ran 3 miles last Thursday and 9 miles last Saturday. Felt real crappy at the beginning of the 9-miler _ could feel my hamstrings burning in the same place they were burning in the marathon, but by the end of the run, I felt great, was able to do each of the last four miles in sub 8s.

I was in Austin over the weekend hanging out with my kiddo, Noah. (That's him just before getting his first haircut). He knows how to say "No," really well, now. He shakes his head and leans back. "No," to vegetables; "No," to taking a nap; "No," to being picked up. But something else he said "No," to: Me and Nancy were taking him Christmas shopping and one of the cds Nancy has for him was playing in the car. At the beginning of one song, Noah starts shaking his head. (The CD was from the Baby Einstein Classical Music Collection.)

"What's wrong with him," I ask Nancy.

"He doesn't like that song," she said.

"How do you know," I said.

"Because I know what songs he likes and what songs he doesn't like," she said.

I was totally amazed. But sure enough, when I changed the song to "Noah-approved lyrics," he'd smile and clap his hands. I'd change the CD to another song, and he'd frown and and shake his head until I put the right song on.

Every time I leave Austin, I think Noah is the most amazing kid and then when I come back to Austin, he does something else even more amazing. I'm a lucky dad.