I guess I am getting out of the city for a minute, although the circumstances could have been better. My 88-year-old Grandpa passed away Friday afternoon, so I am driving up to Maine tomorrow to stay for a couple of nights for the family viewing, funeral, and so on. It is sad, of course, but I think we were all mentally prepared because he's had some serious health problems this spring, and, well, 88. I have a lot of great memories of him taking me fishing for sunfish at the lake house on Narrows Pond in Winthrop, Maine, that he and my grandma owned for years, picking blueberries in his garden, camping in New Brunswick, Canada... he was a smart, wonderful man with an extremely successful career, a large family, and a marriage that included hand-holding and snuggling for well over 60 years. Moreover, he and my grandmother served as a stable center in what was not always a stable childhood for my brother and sister and me. My little sister is driving into the city from Buffalo tomorrow, and she and I will head north together in the afternoon.

Addict that I am, I will still be participating in the NYRR long training run #1 tomorrow morning, and I'm already scoping out running routes in Augusta, Maine on RWOL. I told my husband last night, "You go to therapy. I go running." Not that everyone couldn't use a little of both, but you get the idea.