bonus post!

lying awake last night, i realized another thing i wanted to say about plans and unplans: keep the balance, grasshopper. too much planning makes jack a dull boy. too much unplanning makes jack worthless.

relying too much on plans closes your eyes to the spontaneous beauty of everyday life - the serendipity of existence. if you're not willing to step off the path, you'll never see what else is in the woods. also, if you stick to the plan and still do not achieve the desired result, that can be crushing. and, if you are trying diligently to stick to the plan, but life keeps knocking you off the path, that's frustrating. so, planning has its issues, but while the alternative - being carefree and planless - is idyllic in theory, it is ridiculous in reality. without a plan you will be hard pressed to learn & achieve, and unless you're peter pan or like, an elm tree, you need to learn & achieve. learning & achieving is what people do. without learning & achieving, you'll be witless & shallow.

so, now i have a plan for running. i hope that plan will help me learn some things about running so that i can internalize the planningness and rely less on paper the next time. i hope that plan will help me achieve running a marathon "successfully" (success as yet is not clearly defined) while staying healthy. i hope that the plan will not preclude the fun but instead, enhance the fun.

stay tuned for the unfolding of this riveting saga.