Begun, the Marathon Training Has

Well, then. I was trying on some summer shirts at Eddie Bauer, since all my old polos were so faded and shapeless that I threw them out at the end of last summer.

What is it about the mirrors and lighting in clothing store changing rooms? They say to me, put that shirt back on right now! Ugh. I'll be hitting the half century mark in about 18 months, in commemoration of which Chronos has decided to gift me with some nasty, lumpy bits over my iliac crest and the abdominal skin tone of a flaccid . . . um, well, it's flaccid. Let's just leave it at that.

So I'll be taking up a friend's offer to begin training for a fall marathon in the Triad. Greensboro's got some great parks for summer running. Country Park and the adjoining Guilford Courthouse Military Park have miles of shaded trails, and Hamilton Lakes and Irving Park are beautiful, wooded neighborhoods to run through. I've even got a 4-mile route that takes me through Aycock, downtown Greensboro, Southside, and Fisher Park -- my architectural run.

Of course all this running is just about vanity. Because I'm vain: I want to stay thin, and I don't want to get old.

I'll lose in the end. But I'm not going down without a fight.

(Sorry for the clichéd Yoda title, but with Revenge of the Sith opening today -- see also Mr. Sun! -- I couldn't help myself.)