Yesterday morning brought yet another snowstorm on the day of my long run. The high was 28 degrees with a wind chill of 2. There have been times I haven’t wanted to run, times I just felt lazy, but yesterday I really didn’t want to get out there. The choice between freezing and running on the treadmill for two hours was just downright awful. I spent most of the day procrastinating.

The snow finally stopped coming down at 2, and I sucked it up and left the house near four o’clock, wearing thermal tights, a tank top, my Craft base layer, a half zip from EMS, a tube scarf, a headband, and a hat. I borrowed a pair of knit gloves from my roommate and jogged off.

I have to admit that I’m starting to really like the FIRST plan. The last time I ran eleven miles, I had to stop at mile 5 with a hurt ankle. My previous long runs had been terrible, and I ended up skipping the half marathon. Yesterday, the only unpleasant thing that happened was that I was cold, and I wasn’t even that cold. The good thing about running is that you only shiver for about five minutes. If your gear is good, you heat up fast and the cold becomes pleasant. My hands started burning a little bit around mile eight when the wind kicked up, and there were a couple of snowy surfaces that required some interesting footwork, but – dare I say – the rest was cake.

This weekend is the Disney World Half! I’ll be running it at marathon pace + 30 seconds per mile. In other words, this will be one slooow half marathon. I’ll have to be careful not to let the race adrenaline take over. This is not the time to risk a usage injury.

Don’t worry. As soon as I get a more functional outer layer (and maybe some YakTrax), I’ll be back outside. It’s not like I have much of a choice; Hyannis is in February, and it’s along the beach. You can’t get much colder than a New England beach in February.

For tonight, though, I hit the treadmill once more. I wasn’t planning to run hard tonight. I borrowed my roommate’s boyfriend’s headphones (I threw mine in the wash by accident – oops), turned on my iPod, took a swig of water, and hit “Start.” I finished tonight’s 5-miler in just under forty-five minutes.

The thing is, I can only give credit to the iPod. I rarely listen to music during runs, unless I know that my route is going to be particularly boring. Today, though, I plugged that thing in, and off I went. Madonna, Black-Eyed Peas, the Offspring, anything with a hard, pounding bass line. I couldn’t slow down if I wanted to.

It was exhilarating. I just have to remember that I’m not going to be using an iPod for any of my races, and I can’t rely on music to give me speed.

I hope I’ll be able to run fast on my own one day!

We got our second snowstorm of the year – but personally I didn’t really count the first one. And even this one, while it created tons of havoc, didn’t leave a ton of snow behind like others have, but that’s just because the snow was followed by a ton of rain, and if you can believe it, thunderstorms and fog this evening?!

Anyway, Bill looked at me like I’d gone insane this morning when he got up around 5:30 a.m., saw it was snowing, and then saw that I was getting dressed to head out. He was like “you’re really going out in this?!”  And I said “yeah, just around the lake.” I meant for two laps around the lake, but he thought just one.  Just 3.8 miles down for the day, but I couldn’t wait to get out there!  (For non-runners reading this blog, they’re thinking “that’s sick, and why would anyone want to do that?” The runners reading this blog know exactly what I was thinking.)

It was definitely coming down quickly, and it was the wet, heavy snow. The kind that can come down at about 1-2 inches per hour, if not more. I actually had fun out there, and on the first lap out there, I even found myself smiling. Yep, drivers must have thought, “who the hell is that insane person out here in the driving snow, smiling like a jackass?!”  There was something very invigorating about being the only one out there, having the snow fly into my face, knowing that if I could get myself out there in this type of weather, and actually enjoy it,  there’s pretty much nothing I can’t do.

I have to say this – I had NO FEAR OF FALLING. I was wearing my Stabilicers (Stabilicer Sport model) that I bought last winter, which are made for running. They slip on underneath your shoes, and then have an elastic strap that you put around your sneakers as well, definitely keeping them on tightly.  It probably helps that with a 7.5 shoe size, I am at the large end of the small size. (Still with me?)

Today was also my first day of this fall/winter running season where I went with three layers on top. For the first lap around the lake anyway. I felt too warm, way too quickly, so I stopped at my house, took the outer layer off, and kept on going.  After which, overheating was not a problem, but then I felt tired. Not sure why.  So  I may take a page from Lindsay over at the Chasing the Kenyans blog and try doing a warm base layer, tech shirt mid layer, and then my running jacket over the top, next time, and see if that keeps me warm enough.  I know, though, that will only work down to about 30 degrees, if it’s precipitating.   If it dips into the 20s, I need my fleece, and sometimes I’m fine with just two layers, as long as it’s not raining/snowing.

Anyway, if you do live in a colder climate, I highly suggest the Stabilicer Sport model.  The roads had not been plowed at all this morning when I was out there, and I felt like I had teeth on the bottom of my shoes.  I thought, this must be what mountain climbers must feel like – these things REALLY grip the road beneath them! I even felt fine when climbing my little overpass, and running down the other side. It was a very liberating feeling.  

The only thing that scared me was my husband’s words “don’t get hit by a plow” as I left the house. (And we thank you for your support, LOL!)   In fact, I wish I could have actually SEEN  more than one plow during my almost 2-hour drive to work today (18 miles in total in case you are wondering.)

Anyway, have to get to bed, mornings come way too early around here! But at least I get to go in late to work tomorrow so if I can get a run in in the morning, it’ll be in daylight – wahoo!!  (We’re down to a whopping 9 hours of daylight here on the East Coast.)

I  leave you all with a snowy picture I took this past Sunday – we only got about 2-3 inches that day.  The orangeish glow in the background is the sun trying to break through.  As you can see, it had its work cut out for it.

the beauty of the first snowfall of the season

I don’t know what my problem is. It’s as if I have taken some gigantic steps backward. I’m in DC for a gig, and I’m a mess. It seems the winter holiday season has blindsided me. It shouldn’t have; I knew it was coming. I guess I just didn’t anticipate the incredible flood of memories that would come with it. Even worse than the memories, though, are the might-have-beens: the images of endless futures, glowing with joy and lights, that will never be. The family I’ll never —

Stop. That’s too hard to write about. Let’s talk about something better, something easier. Let’s talk about those DC hills.

This morning, I ran five of the hardest miles of my life. Gmap Pedometer doesn’t calculate elevation, so I had no idea what I was getting into when I went out the door, my route scribbled in black pen on the back of my hand. Let’s just say that the hills didn’t end. They came in all varieties: short and steep, long and sloping, one after another after another. Every time I thought I had scaled the final hill, I came upon two more. By the end of the last mile, I was literally narrating my run to myself, out loud, my breath rasping in my throat: “This is for the Pig! Push! Push! One foot in front of the other! You can do it! Up! Up! Go!” I’m sure I looked like a nutter.

In a way, it was a good thing. The Pig is not a flat race, and I knew that eventually I would have to start tackling harder terrain. It also reminded me of the reason I started this in the first place: when you’re straining to go on, when there is nothing left in you but that final push, when you think you can’t go any further but you do anyway, and all there is is the breathing, the tightness in your calves, the pounding of your feet — that’s when you can pull on your inner strength, that’s when you know that even though you’ve passed through fire, and are still passing through it, you’re alive, and you’re still breathing, and you’re still running.

These days, it’s been harder than usual to believe that I’ll be completely healed when I cross that finish line in May. But I finished five miles of the hardest running I’ve ever done. Twenty-one more to go, but I’ll do it. I’ll do it.

I set out last night for a rainy 5-miler. I thought I was set, as I had carefully mapped out my route on Gmap-Pedometer. I put on my shorts (it was in the fifties, no need for tights yet), my 2140’s, my warm Craft shirt, and a cozy hat. I tied my key to my shoe and headed out.

The merits of running in the rain are underestimated, especially if you’ve got good clothes. At first it’s chilly, and your bare legs are all whyyyyy, and the droplets drip down your nose and you have to keep wiping them away. But then your body warms up and it becomes very pleasant. The water begins to feel good and you feel this strange sense of accomplishment that you’ve still gone outside even though the weather is bad. You see a couple of other runners, just one or two, and even if you don’t exchange knowing looks there’s a sense of kinship between you: We’re runners. We’re runners.

I think it was while I was passing one of the reservoirs near Boston College that I missed the turn. I was watching the mist rise off the surface of the water, looking at the foggy skyline, dreamy and unreal. A very specific street was supposed to be coming up soon, though I didn’t recall exactly when, and I was supposed to turn onto it and begin the second half of my loop home.

It never came. I ran and ran, my forefeet making soft patters on the sidewalk, the rain softly falling onto my wet legs. When I passed a sign that read, “Newton Center,” I knew I had gone too far. I began looking for a way back.

Unfortunately, the only solution to any problem that comes up during a run is to keep running. You’ve got to pee? You’re cold? You’re hungry or thirsty? Keep running, because slowing down or walking home won’t get you there any faster. So run I did, until I finally found my way back into the city, and eventually to my apartment.

Exhausted, but oddly excited, I went to the computer to see how far I had actually run.

9 miles.

Either Boston REALLY stinks at street signs, or I have by far the worst sense of direction in the world.

Eh, probably a combination of both.

MAP

BRITISH WATERWAYS WEBSITE

This week CJ and I have been to stay with my parents. I always feel quite strange visiting the place where I grew up. I know the surroundings like the back of my hand, it’s all totally familiar – and yet I don’t know anything that’s going on, don’t feel like a part of things anymore. I know the area so well, and yet don’t know it at all. I’m sure it’s not uncommon to grow up being hypercritical of the place you live, seeing all the negative things, the things you’d like to get away from. I’m as guilty as anyone for that. The funny thing is though, since I’ve moved away from home, I’ve started to notice things that I didn’t appreciate when I saw them all the time – particularly when it comes to my old running routes. One of the best things about Wall Heath, the village a few miles from Dudley where I grew up, is that it is right on the border of the countryside, somthing which I completely took for granted when I could train there all the time.

In this post then, I will share with you one of my favourite places in the world. The towpath of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal from bridge number 38 at Hinksford to Bridge number 45. It’s not a park, but it is a beautiful and free open space, enjoyed by many types of people. The lovely thing about going for a run along my old haunt, is that it feels exactly like it used to – the scenery and wildlife are the same, I say hello to people I don’t know, dog walkers, people on boats, fellow runners. Unlike walking around the village, I never did know anyone to bump into along the towpath, I often was there one my own. In fact, going for a run here is even better than it used to be, because now it is a special treat, something that I can’t do whenever I feel like it.

The route I took starts at Hinksford Bridge, about a 7 minute run from my parents house or a 15 minute stroll. I ran along the towpath, only coming off to cross the road in Swindon because it’s easier than using the bridge there, and carried on to Giggety Bridge, number 44. I took some photos along the way, they are not brilliant quality as I took them on my mobile without my glasses on, but I think I deserve some kudos for stopping to take pictures whilst out of breath! The picture on the right is the first view when you step onto the towpath at Hinksford bridge. If you turn left and go in the opposite direction it’s equally lovely and leads you to The Navigation pub. No bad thing! On the left is one of the few slightly uphill sections of the towpath. As you can see it’s barely noticeable – another reason I enjoy running along here. I now live on top of a hill, so flat training routes are almost impossible to find. Just along from here I saw someone on their barge getting ready to go fishing, chatting to a swan who had swum up to say hello. The lock keepers cottage just up from here used to keep a guardgoose outside. That thing was damn scary! It’s been gone a while, but whenever I approach I still feel trepidation, until I realise there’s no need to sprint past.

If you look carefully at the photo on the right, you’ll see some winged creatures – sadly not the image I wanted to capture. I’d heard a loud flapping noise like sails in the wind, and then 3 swans flew around the corner, inches above the water. By the time I’d managed to snap them they looked like tiny specks. In fact their combined wingspan took up the entire width of the canal.

I wanted to run for about an hour, so I was going to just turn around and come back when my watch hit 30 minutes – but as I was on the canal, I thought I might as well just carry on to the next bridge, in this case Giggety, number 44.  Next time I’ll go further on to the next one, number 45 – I can’t remember what it’s called. I’ve never managed to go further. Not for want of fitness, just out of fear. I don’t know why, but I round a corner and always get a strange feeling that I am starring in a re-creation of my own last steps for an episode of Crimewatch. Something about the reeds, I don’t know. Entirely irrational, but it makes me nervous!

I took the photo on the left on my way back. Along this stretch are many houses with gardens backing onto the canal. Away from the practicalities of my own life, I always find myself coveting one of them as I run past. I don’t really even know where I am here, somewhere near Wombourne I would guess. I’m on the towpath, I don’t know or care where I am in relation to anywhere else.

Usually, the towpath will be busy with walkers, runners, cyclists, families and duckfeeders. Today I ran early, so I mainly had sailors for company, the smell of logburners wafting across the canal as they cooked their breakfast. There are only two differences between this run and my runs in the past. Firstly, I don’t know when I’ll next be able to enjoy running along this stretch of towpath. Secondly, when I get home I am now greeted by a grinning and shrieking 2 year old, who quickly proclaims, “You’re sweaty!”

So lately I have been checking out websites that provide running routes based on zip codes.  And of course, I didn’t find any for Bed-Stuy (with the exception of the Restoration 10K).  I am not at a 10K level yet so this wasn’t very helpful.

I found a website lets you make your own route and calculate the distance (www.runningmap.com).  I came up with a map that is approximately 3.36 miles.  I plan on running it this Thursday. You can view the map by clicking the link and searching 11221.

Please excuse my absence. I’ve been running, but my runs have taken a turn for the worse lately, and I’ve been lazy about updating.

My longest long run was supposed to be Sunday, eleven miles to Waltham and back along the Charles. I finished the whole route, but I didn’t run all of it. After about five miles, the inside of my right ankle began to hurt in a horribly familiar way. I tried to run through it, but the pain kept increasing. So began the six mile sorry shuffle back to my house, half walking, half running, through a very depressing and chilly rain.

I have to say that I’m very discouraged. My ankle still hurts a little bit, and my taper weeks begin tomorrow in preparation for the Columbus Day Half. If this were the only “run gone wrong” in the past few weeks, I wouldn’t be so downhearted. However, the last long run wasn’t so hot, either, and I won’t even TALK about the last six-miler, which was interrupted by a bathroom emergency of epic proportions.

Basically, it seems like there have been very few runs lately in which I haven’t gotten lost, tired, hurt, or something else. I’m quite fearful that I’m not ready for this race, and am having awful visions of my ankle busting up at mile three, my angry self hobbling to the sidelines to watch my friends finish.

I guess what will come will come, but I sincerely hope that my taper weeks leave me slightly more optimistic. Running has been a solace to me these months, and I don’t know what I’ll do if it’s taken away.

A housemate pointed out that there was a path along the Charles River, a mere three blocks from our place. I decided to explore it this morning, and I’m glad I did. I had to run along the street for quite some time, but the path gradually started to become more wooded and shady, and after about three miles, I found myself running across quaint little bridges, sandy trails, and little asphalt bike paths. I could hear birds and crickets chirping, and though the sounds of the city never quite disappeared, they were muffled by the sound of the river babbling over dams and rocks. I liked it even better than the esplanade, and ended up running almost six miles, which was slightly more than I had planned for the day.

Tomorrow night or Sunday morning will be another short run (love that my short runs are last month’s long runs), and next week we’re going to try again to break that double-digit mark!

Well done! With only three weeks of training you’re already completing 6 mile runs.  It’s a good accomplishment and shows you how much your body is capable of; 13.1 miles is well within your grasp now. 

The total weekly mileage is starting to add up now and your legs may be feeling tired, make sure you are completing your stretches every day and spend a little longer on them after the runs. Treat yourself to a sports massage; this can really help to re-energise your legs, I use Coral Wint at http://www.evolve-stressmanagement.co.uk/evolve-stressmanagement/I-Sports_Massage-What_is_it.html

Also now that you are running for longer periods of time you will need to focus more on correct fuelling and hydration.  Even if you are aiming to lose a few pounds by training for the Coventry Half Marathon, you will still need to consume some extra calories to ensure your body has the fuel it requires. 

You will also need to drink more fluid to cope with your extra activity; a general guide is 1 litre extra for every hour of exercise that you do.  I will post more information about this later in the week. 

This week we will be increasing the intensity of your strength exercises by performing them for fixed times.  Do each exercise for 1 minute and move straight on to the next, have a 2 minute rest and then complete the second circuit.  Change legs at 30 seconds for the lunges and step ups.

Day 1

Recovery & Light Resistance Day

Light cross training RPE 4-5

Resistance Circuit x 2

Day 2

4 mile run – RPE 6-8

Try to do a hilly route, push on the hills.

Day 3

Rest / Recovery Day

Day 4

5 mile run – RPE 6-8

Push hard to get up the hills, relax your legs on the way down; I will include more about hill technique later in the week.

Day 5

Non-running Cardio Training and Resistance Day

30 minutes – RPE 5-7

Resistance Circuit x 2

Day 6

Total Rest Day

Day 7

6-8 mile run – RPE 5-7

Steady, if you feel good at 6miles do another 10-20mins.

Darren

http://www.achievebootcamp.co.uk

http://www.achieve.me.uk

How did your 5 mile run / walk feel?

Your legs may feel a little tired, so make sure you have a good stretch.  This week, you will be completing a hill session, this is to help strengthen your legs for the Coventry Half Marathon.  There are a few tough hills on the route and the better prepared you are, the less you notice these. 

With the strength exercises this week, I want you add a little resistance to the lunges, step ups and squats; holding a full 5 litre water bottle will be enough to begin with.  I also want you to try to jog the full distances, if you still need to walk, set yourself fixed goals; for example, jog 1 mile, walk 3 minutes. 

Day 1

Recovery & Light Resistance Day

Light cross training (RPE 4-5)

Resistance Circuit x 2

Day 2

3 mile run / walk

Mile 1 – RPE 5-6

Mile 2 – RPE 7-8

Mile 3 – RPE 5-6

Speed up for the middle mile, pushing a little harder than last week.

Day 3

Rest / Recovery Day

Day 4

4 mile run – RPE 5-8

Choose a hilly route.  Push hard to get up the hills, relax your legs on the way down; I will include more about hill technique later in the week.

Day 5

Non-running Cardio Training and Resistance Day

30 minutes – RPE 5-6

Resistance Circuit x 2

Day 6

Total Rest Day

Day 7

5-6 mile run – RPE 5-7

Take it steady, I’ll put some routes on from the North and South of the city later in the week.

Darren

Helping you Achieve

When I got home tonight, I told Bill, I had to eat, and then I needed to write about the race tonight. He looked at me and said, you’re about to burst, aren’t you?  YEP, I AM! Simply put, this was my best race of the year, and I felt great while running  it.  I think my secret is to not think about the race for weeks on end, and to not stress!  I also think that running a race that Lis also runs (my running partner from last year and now friend, from last year’s TNT training) puts me in a great mood to start off, so the negative thoughts don’t have a chance to sneak in.  Oh, and she got a PR too!!!  She broke 50 minutes, by a lot.  Her time on the clock was 49:30 but really, I think her real time was more like 49:20. It’s hard to know the exact time when there are no chips.

I have to admit, I was worried I was not properly hydrated, as I hadn’t drunk as much water at work as I usually do. Plus, we had food brought in at lunch time for  a meeting, so I had potato chips, and other food I don’t normally eat for lunch. I’ve also had about a gazillion chocolate chip cookies lately thanks to a coworker who has been on a baking craze. (None of us are complaining about her cake-per-week allotment.)  Ok, I digress, on to the race report.

I got there with only about 20 minutes to the start time. So much traffic – it took me about an hour to drive 12 miles.  Luckily, Lis was there two hours early. She’s incredibly prompt, believe me.  She was able to pick up my number. It was drizzling before the race started, and then definitely raining during the entire race. We had just enough time to use the porta potties (once for me, three times for her by this point, hey, we both have nervous bladders. If I’d have been there for 2 hours, I’d have peed about a million times.)

The start line was a bit chaoitc.  I didn’t really hear a lot of announcements, and then bang, we all started. You could hear all the stop watches going off.  I looked down to start mine at what I thought was the official start line, and realized we had been standing still so long that it had reset itself to sleep mode. So I tried to start and lock it again. I realized after about 2 minutes and 35 seconds later, it had stopped on its own. So I restarted it (I’ll explain how I know how much time had elapsed.  I’m getting to it.)  Did I mention the start line was on grass, on a field that we suspected was recently cut?  You can imagine how scary that is, no one wants to get injured on that!  You could noticeably see people slowing down on the grass, both at the beginning and at the end of the race.

So, when the race started, I thought, ok, way too many people, rainy conditions, no way can I do a PR with this.  Just enjoy the race instead. But people really started to get into their own grooves pretty quickly, after about the first .3 miles or so.  I hit the first mile mark at 8:35, and looked down to see my watch was at about 6:00, so I thought, ok, I’ll just add 2:35 to everything.  Plus, at the end, I know whatever the clock says, I’m actually about 3-5 seconds under it, since I started in the middle of the pack at the start line. Honestly, it scared me a bit to see 8:35 showing. That’s more around my 5Kish pace. So I thought I should slow down, but I also thought to myself, you know what? I feel ok right now! It doesn’t seem like I am running that much faster than I normally do for this kind of mileage.

I made sure to stop at the water stops for miles 1, 2 and 3.  I carried some Sports Beans with me – I find that if I keep feeding myself electrolytes and caffeine while I go, my body seems to react well with it.  I made sure to walk through 2 of the water stops when I took Endurolytes. (Didn’t want to choke on them, that wouldn’t be good for anyone.)  While it was not overly hot out tonight, the rain made things humid, so I like the Endurolytes for nights like tonight.

I do remember a few hills on this route from last year – in particular one where Lis says she distinctly remembers the words, “holy,” “mother,” “god” and “fing….” all used in the same sentency by me as soon as I saw it.  Tonight, I think that hill was included again but I said to myself YOU ARE NOT GOING TO LET THIS HILL BEAT YOU AGAIN, even though I did swear inwardly at it! Honestly, compared to the Boilermaker, it didn’t seem so bad. And I made sure to say to myself on every downhill, “Free Speed” over and over.  I  tried to relax my arms and just let gravity take me downhill at a faster speed, and then try to carry that speed into the flats.

On a night like tonight, there were very few spectators, of course, until we got to the finish line, which was around a track.  I made sure to try to say thank you to some of the volunteers, who unlike us who were moving to keep warm, were standing still in the rain.   I smiled widely at a few and they seemed happy to return equally big smiles, especially the guy at the finish line, even as I was huffing and puffing in front of him.

I have to admit, I think the look on my face when I got to the 4-mile marker was one  of “holy shit, I can’t believe that’s the number on the clock with this course.”  Offiicially, at that point, it said 35:55, which meant I was just under a 9 minute mile pace.  For me, for that distance, that’s good. Really good. I knew at that point, I had it in me to have a finish line time of somewhere in the 45 minute range.  I also know I am a “sit and  kicker” because I am generally able to make my last mile or segment of a race be my fastest.  It was at this point that I decided to start counting people I passed, which has been a motivational trick for me in the past.  I believe I passed 10, maybe more, as it was  getting confusing during the last half mile or so.  I did see a lot of people who looked like they were starting to flag, and I felt like yelling out “we’re only a half mile from the end, don’t slow down now!” but another part of me is still like a competitive law student sometimes, and didn’t want everyone else to speed up too! (Blush)

When I hit the track, I felt very comfortable.  It was very familiar to me, and I definitely felt strong.  When I saw the time clock and saw 43 as the first two numbers, I thought, holy shit, I can’t believe this and I started to sprint.  It did say 44:14 when I crossed the line but I think my real time was 44: 10 due to my earlier deductions.

My Garmin didn’t catch all of the entire mileage but these are the splits it gave me for 4.66 miles. I do know that last mile was in about 8:18, which totally blew my mind when I figured it out on the car ride home.

• Mile 1:  8:28
• Mile 2: 9:12
• Mile 3: 9:09
• Mile 4: 9:22
• Mile 5: 8:17

I just looked on Cool Running  and can’t believe the results are on there already:

• Place overall: 675/961
• Division (female 30-39) 43/122
• Females: 221/420

It looks like there were a ton of guys running!  I just saw the winner did it in 24:21. My God.  But you know what,  I’m most proud of my place in my division – to me that’s always the most important ranking.

The sayings that helped me the most tonight:

• So this is what it’s like to feel strong while running!
• Run strong, run strong.
• Run Fearless (that made me smile) (thanks to Willie in OK)
• Run like you mean it (thanks to Irish Cream)
• Free speed!

The music that helped me tonight:

• Forever by Chris Brown
• Fire Burning by Sean Kingston
• Vapour Trails by Nick Warren, off the Starecase album (this has always been my “strong song” so it was fitting that it started playing at about mile 4.5)

By the way, Marathon  Sports, who sponsors this race, always does an amazing job.  So well staffed, and supported, especially at the end.  

Anyway, this is probably my longest race report ever, so thanks for listening.  I think I’ll just float on this feeling for a few days now. I am really hoping my goal of doing a 10K in 54-55 can be realized this year after all. On nights like tonight, it makes me think I can do it after all. 

By the way, this was the realization of one of my goals for this year – to run a solid 9 minute mile pace (or better!) and to do a 5 mile race in the 45 minute range. Looks like I even beat it! I bested my time in this race by over 6 minutes!!!!!

They say you are supposed to have a goal every day for your run.  So today’s was pretty pure and simple. Check out new neighborhoods and have fun. Try running without my headphones for a change and just connecting with the world. No worry about time or pace, but distance should be between 4 and 5 miles. Walk if you want to and don’t feel any guilt, especially since it’s almost 10 a.m. in the hot sun.

So, I did.  It’s funny how we can become creatures of habit. Usually when I leave my house for my 4-5 mile runs, I do a loop that brings be back home at the end. I always somehow go to the “left” out of my neighborhood but never to the right. Hm, I wonder why that is. Is it the amount of cars that will be buzzing by me? The neighborhoods I will see? The amount of sun/shade I can guarantee to myself I’ll run by?

Anyway, today I ran to the “right.”  I may have mentioned on this blog a few times – I’ve enjoyed reading books by Cheryl Richardson, particularly her book, The Unmistakeable Touch of Grace.  I even downloaded one of her apps onto my iPhone.  You juggle cards when you need inspiration.  So I did this morning and picked an “awake card” and it said something like “live in the now; it’s the only moment that is important.”

 As I ran to the right, I saw a street called Grace Drive. So I thought, hm, never been down that way before, why not today? So I did, and found an absolutely beautiful neighborhood. I came back out onto the main road at Melody Street. Further along, I found another very quiet neighborhood whose street names, I discovered, were all named after flowers: Larkspur, Bellflower, Primrose. Beautiful, right? I know, I know, every town has neighborhoods like that  It was pretty warm when I ran so I didn’t care about my pace, or if I stopped to walk.  I was too engrossed in learning about my new surroundings.

However, it did occur to me that on a Monday, there seemed to be a lot of cars in driveways.  This made me wonder – do all these people all have the same day off as me? Are they on vacation? Or are all these people out of work? Because I live in an area where there isn’t much mass transit, at least, these people would have to drive to the commuter rail and then park there for the day. It’s too far to walk.  Is the economy really that much in the crapper?  I know MA is in a bad state – our unemployment is just about in the double digits, but I think we are lucky compared to states like that of my sister, MI, which now has about 14% unemployment, thanks to the auto industry.

Anyway, these are the random thoughts that go through my head sometimes when I’m out there. Also, when I’m running with my music turned off.   That’s right folks. You read that correctly. I had my headphones on but to be honest, felt a bit like they were more annoying than helpful today.  Who knows, I might even try running again without them, just not this Thursday night for the Weston 5-Miler.  I’ve pre-registered and am all set. Now I just hope the weather cooperates and is not disgustingly hot. Because God knows, we have not acclimated to the heat here yet. It was 81 today but tomorrow it’s supposed to be 68 and raining all day. How can we ever get acclimatized with weather like this?!

Anyway, off to bed, getting up at 4ish to either run or ride the bike at the gym, weather depending. I’m not averse to the rain, I just don’t want to run in a downpour for 50 minutes.

By the way, you may not have heard unless you follow me on Twitter, but this Saturday, Bill and I are adopting a yellow lab from a Lab Rescue in Indiana.   Her name is Ruthie, and she’s 3 years old. She was initially picked up as a stray, with a litter of puppies.  She’s around 40ish pounds, and she just looks so adorable.  (So my last goal for today was to do Research for Ruthie – i.e., find new routes to take her on walks/jogs.)

I can’t wait for Ruthie to get here on Saturday – she’s going to LOVE the neighborhoods I found today. Lots of quiet streets where we can safely walk! I can’t wait to post pictures of her for you all to see what a sweetie she is.  And who knows, maybe I’ll have a new running partner to help motivate me in the mornings?!

Those of you who read Runner’s World know what I’m talking about when I use the phrase, “Rave Run.”  I always look at those gorgeous pictures and think, “wow, it would be so nice to have somewhere to run like that, someplace that is so beautiful.”  Normally, I’ve just got the neighborhoods around my house.  That is, except for when I go to the Cape.  Cape Cod.  A little sliver of land that looks like an arm held out and in the midst of a bicep curl. 

Bill’s parent have a house in the mid-Cape area (think of the part that would be the elbow, and that’s mid-Cape.)  Within a mere mile, a short warm-up, I can be staring at the sands of the bay, out across Nantucket Sound, and at the ocean. That’s what I saw on both of my runs this week while on vacation.  Both runs were much later than I’d normally do them, around 9 or 10 a.m., but the ocean breeze made it really comfortable.  Yesterday, there were a lot of people out walking and I said to a few of them, how nice it was to be outside in the sunshine for a change, and their smiles in reply told me that they definitely agreed.  One lady even gave me a cheer as I ran by her the first time and a huge smile when I passed her on my return trip.

Both runs were short – 4 miles on Wednesday and 5 on Thursday, because this Sunday is the Boilermaker Race at home in Utica, NY.  Many of you run big city marathons with 40-50K people. For me, this is my big city marathon of sorts. It’s 10,000 people running just over 9 miles.  My brother in law has advised that I line up at the start with the people who would have a finish time of 10 minutes faster than what I am expecting to do, so I don’t get stuck weaving and weaving and weaving at the beginning.

Just now, I got back from a 2.1 mile run.  Yep, pretty short but I’m saving my legs for Sunday. I just wanted to get the lead out.  Now, I’ve got to get showered and finish re-packing (just got home from the Cape last night) and get on the road! Unfortunately Bill can’t make the trip with me as he’s now out of vacation time and I’m not coming back until Monday, and his sister is expecting a baby as of Wednesday so he wants to stay close to home. My sister and her kids left a few hours ago and I’m going to see them again tonight at dinner.  Her three kids are pretty amazing, but I don’t  know how she keeps up with all of it and doesn’t just collapse every night!   My brother in law is injured, so he may run the 5K on  Sunday instead of the 15K, or not run at all (the two races have different starting locations and times.)  But my brother and I are both running – yay! 

Anyway, to everyone else out there racing this weekend, good luck, and to everyone else, happy running! I’ll try to post from my mom’s house  if I get a chance as I downloaded the WordPress app to my iPhone but I think I might have trouble posting to it, either that or I need to figure  out how to work it better.

Stanwick Lake Map

Stanwick Lake

Wooden Frog at Stanwick Lake

Wooden Fish seating

Lizard

Grasshopper

Dragonfly

Assault Course, Stanwick Lake

Stanwick Lake Assault Course

Stepping Stones in the assault course, Stanwick Lake

Eco Roof Stanwick Lake

Stanwick Lake Visitor Centre overlooks one of the lakes

But the best bit about Stanwick Lake is enjoying a delicious picnic!

picnic basket

Party ring,sandwiches, melon

salad, doughnuts, cherries, strawberries, rose wine

crisps, sandwiches, cheese sticks & biscuits, cheese balls, ham, cucumber sticks, party sausages, carrot sticks, cherries, salad, strawberries

These days when I go for a run I experience sensory overload from the beauty of the urban environment surrounding my home. I feel lucky to have backdrops like these during just an ordinary run…

Part of my route takes me past the beautiful and decaying Admiral’s Row at the edge of the Navy Yard.

An uplifting message in the industrial waterfront of Dumbo.

There are no excuses for overestimating your running distance.

Mapmyrun.com allows you to map and calcualte your route . You can save it, add markers to show water stops along the way and more.

Once you go to the site you simply type in your town and the site will take you to a road map of your town. You can see your town as a street map, satellite map, terrain map, or topographical map.

You can post your route or make it private. One of the best features is that you can also search for route’s other people use when running in your town.

I found 19 routes for running or bike riding in my town.

Check out one of my routes below for an idea.

04/16/2009 Route
Find more Runs in Orange, Connecticut

I had such an awesome run this morning, not in terms of speed, but in terms of scenery.  I didn’t take my phone with me because it’s a RAZR and it weighs a bit much for the tiny pocket in my capri tights. So, instead, I took a mental catalog of the sights as I went along. Even if I had taken my camera today, I think the pictures would have turned out crappy anyway. It was so cloudy that it took a while for my Garmin to pick up the satellites, if you can believe it. 

If you’d like to see some of my older posts where I took lots of photos, please click here.  You could also look at my archive from April 2008, if you like. 

A few things to note – you have to be really aware of where you are running and all of the  traffic here in D.C. They love their rotaries (as do we in Boston), but it seems like there are cars coming at you from everywhere.  I love the fact that there are lots of paths to run on, as even I am not brave enough to literally run in the street here like I do at home.   You’d take your life into your hands! And HOLY CRAP! it was windy!! More about that later.
Anyway, here’s my foray into being a tour guide – I hope those of you who have never been to D.C. can get a good picture in your mind of my run/trip. This really is a cool city to run  in, and a lot of the runners tend to be the type who wave or at least say “good morning.”  (Did you all read that article about waving/not-waving in Runner’s World, about an issue or two ago? I got a kick out of it because I’m definitely a waver.)

Starting out from my hotel, if you run about .4 miles, you’ll find yourself in front of the Iwo Jima Memorial. If you looked over to your left, you can see something amazing.  The Washington Monument, and behind it, the Capitol.  To the left, you’d see the Lincoln Memorial. It was pretty awesome at the time, as the sun was trying to break through the clouds behind them – you could see a bright stripe of orange.  I was able to take a picture of the Iwo Jima memorial last night but it was also very cloudy then so I’m afraid it didn’t turn out as well as I would have liked.  You then pass by the Netherlands Carrillon which expresses gratitude of the Dutch people to American assistance given to them in WWII.

As you go past the Carrillon, you then see the Arlington National Cemetery in front of you. I’m kind of bummed that I won’t be able to go into it again this year while I’m here. I’m leaving on Wednesday, and the cemetery only starts extending its hours past 5 on April 1st, when it begins staying open from 8-7 p.m.  It is so sobering to realize, as you run on the path outside of it, and see the hundreds of rows of graves, and think that every single one of them stands for another person. As I was running by it, I pictured a lot of our military folks all standing there. Really sobering.

After the Arlington National Cemetery, which is about a mile into our run, the next monument you come to is a new one, I believe. It’s for the Sea Bees, and it’s on your left as you run toward the Memorial Bridge. So now you hit your first rotary.  This one is not nearly as bad as the one that circles around the Lincoln Memorial, trust me! But it’s also when the wind started to gust pretty strongly (the weather forecasted 18 mph winds, yeah, I would say that they were just a wee bit off on that!)

Tangent: It was pretty cool to see the Lincoln Memorial when it was not completely covered with tourists, as it usually is in the evening, although by the time I was heading back over the Memorial Bridge, the tour buses had started to pull up in droves.  I didn’t run up the stairs like I did last year because I was running out of time and had to get back to my hotel! The Lincoln Memorial is about 1.6 miles from my hotel area.

Anyway, continuing on from the Lincoln Memorial, if you run heading toward the Washington Monument, you’ll see the famous Reflecting Pool.  On your left you’ll see the Vietnam War Memorial (i.e., “The Wall”), and on your right you’d see the Korean War Memorial.  I used to think the Vietnam War Memorial was my favorite, but as I was running today, I thought of how life-like the statues are with the Korean War Memorial.  They are placed so that they look like they arewalking through the fields.  All of the guys are dressed in many layers of clothes, and have very heavy weaponry on their bodies as well as heavy packs.  They all look exhausted, and a bit haunted, too, I think.  Depending on how the light hits, you can see the statues reflected in the dark grey wall to their right. 

Ok, so now we are coming up on what was my favorite part of my run today.  You come up on the WWII memorial.  You’ll see that there are lots of columns arranged in a circle. On each of the columns is a wreath.  Each column has a state’s name on it, and there’s a fountain in the middle.  This is one of the newest, if not THE newest monument.  This was the furthest I’d run on any of my runs last year.  Today, I figured I still felt good and had some time, so I ran up to the Washington Monument.  I looked over to my left and there was the White House. Really absolutely beautiful.  Pretty amazing to think that I could see all of this in the span of just 2.5 or so miles.  I felt pretty grateful for having been able to do that run this morning, and was glad I waited until after sunrise to do it.  (I may be brave at running in the dark at home, and even brought my headlamp with me to D.C., but I have to admit, I don’t feel entirel comfortable running in a strange city, being a female, and not knowing the places where an attacker could hide in the dark, even though my airport cabbie said that it’s safe to run on the running paths and biking trails around my hotel.)  I don’t like inviting trouble, you know? I did stop during my run a few times – once was at the Washington Monument, because I just wanted to soak it all up, and enjoy where I was for the moment.  I wasn’t running for time (my Garmin definitely shows that). I also needed to get out of the wind (which was insane on top of the small hill on which the Washington Monument is perched) and have some sports beans for caffeine for the return trip!  (By the way, that was about 2.8 miles from the hotel.)

The run home was definitely more difficult, for no other reason than because the wind was freaking insane!! Especially as I was crossing the Potomac.  At times I felt like I was standing still,and was really happy I had brought along my gloves and hat. In fact, I’d say there are only two “cons” about running down here. Ok, three.  (1) lots of traffic to worry about. (2) lots and lots of wind, especially when crossing the potomac.  (3) not being able to run in the street, you end up running on lots of concrete sidewalks, which we all know is not good for your legs! But I’d say that the beautiful views more than make up for those flaws.

There is one other view I should mention I saw on my run today.  As I was fighting the wind while heading over the Memorial Bridge, with the Lincoln Memorial at my back, I saw at the hill that sits at one end of the Arlington National Cemetery, the building that houses the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  JFK is buried close by, and there is a flame that is always burning, near his grave. If you ever get to D.C., I’d suggest making the trip up there. It’s pretty cool to watch the sentries walk back and forth in sync as they guard the tomb.  I remember it also being very quiet at the time, as if even little kids knew that this was not a place to yell and scream.

Anyway, total distance was 5.6 by the time I got back to my hotel. It totally helped to start my day off on a good footing.  I suppose it also helped that I was able to get a good 10 hours sleep last night.  The night before, some idiots were slamming doors all over the place on my hall, at 3 A.M. IN THE MORNING.  At one point, they woke me up and kept me awake, as all of the MORONS decided that they’d prefer to talk OUT IN THE HALL, RATHER THAN THEIR ROOMS. I finally had had it, and peeked out and asked them to keep it down.  “Oh, sorry,” is what I heard in response. The thing is, they didn’t look like they were 21, but older.  (Of course, I was half asleep, with no contacts in, so who knows?!)  I talked to one of the bellhops tonight and he said that they received lots of complaints on Saturday night, so I don’t think I was the only person they bothered!

By the way, the crocuses below first made their appearance in our yard a few days ago- spring really is coming if you see them!

Two runs, in two days. Couldn’t have been more diametrically opposed from each other if they tried.

Thursday was awesome. I set a PR for myself with the 5-mile distance.  46:40, average pace of 9:20.  That’s better by at least two minutes. Not bad considering the second mile is a lot of ups and downs. It’s also when the sunrise began, and Untouched by the Veronicas came up on my iPod. Explains why that was my second fastest mile, even in 23 arctic degrees!  The rest of my route is pretty flat, but still I do run early in the morning so I was happy that my sleepy brain and legs could keep on going.   The sunrise was gorgeous. I think because it was so cold, it made the color stripes appear more crisp than normal. They were pink and green (preppy colors!)

Yesterday was not so great. The first two miles were just fine, pretty decent anyway, and it was in the 30s so I was down to two layers in the morning – wahoo! However, once I got to my turnaround point, you know, as far away from my house as I could be, suddenly I didn’t feel so good. On my way back, I looked longingly at the swamp/wetland I passed (you know it’s not good when that’s the case), and probably would have used them if they weren’t literally off the side of the road, and I was wearing white! (Yeah,  not great camoflauge.)  I also passed some kids waiting for the bus, and toyed with the idea of asking if I could use their bathroom in their house, but then I was thinking, they’d look at me as if I was a weirdo.

Oh, and earlier in the run when I reached down for my sports beans, what do you think I left at home?!  So, anyway, I found out yesterday, my body felt worse when running than walking, so I pretty much speedwalked home as fast as I could.  Ah well. It was a shorter run anyway, so at least I didn’t have any other major problems!

Anyway, I have to get ready to go meet some friends for a quick 5 mile run this morning and then get home to pack for D.C.  It’s supposed to be in the mid-60s there this week, and seriously I don’t know if I’d even know how to dress for that kind of weather right now, it’s been so long!

Since we walk to and from work, we usually run home (might as well).  Today we took the road route inside One Tree Hill (3.23Mi), going around the park and across the sheep and cow paddock.

from www.davidwallphoto.com

I hope mapmyrun.com fixes the problem about posting maps. I had to screen capture this one to put it in.

I’ll be posting more of my routes soon.

This is my regular Sunday morning route and I live just 5 minutes away from the trail head. Cornwall Park features rolling hills and pastures, and excellent farm and bird life. Just watch out for the cows and poo splatter.

Cornwall Park Trail

from cornwallpark.co.nz

from singhray.blogspot.com

He felt very strong today, and just glad he’s past the re-training injuries (dodgy knee ligaments, first the left, then the right, then strained his left right calf going downhill. Poor guy). I could have run up One Tree Hill but fearing a re injury, we took the scenic, easier route. 

At 34, gone are the days when you could just go on and on and on.  Now you have to listen to your body, allow time to heal and be patient.

Today his body seems to be saying “More Bengay please.”

For LSD, that is. For those  of you non-runners, like my mom, reading this, LSD does not equal drugs. LSD = long slow distance.

I went to the Harold Parker State Forest today and ran the roads that run around and sort-of, through the park. I saw some hikers before I started and asked them which direction was the most scenic to run in, as they had come from the trails. The lady admitted, most of the place looks the same – wetlands and forest, and she said the trails were getting pretty muddy. Seeing as this was my first time there, I decided I’d stick to roads.

Next week, I want to go back and do some of the fire/logging roads. (Mom, READ: UNPAVED roads.)  As long as they are not single-track, I think I’ll be ok. I HATE single-track trails to run on, honestly. Too many roots and rocks sticking up from the ground, too many ways to turn my ankle and get injured.  I don’t mind them to walk on, but for running, no thank you.

Today was supposed to be 8. “Supposed to” is the key phrase.

I told myself, I’d see how I felt out there today, running slower and longer, and see whether or not, in my heart, I still like running long, and whether I’d do the Lehigh Valley Half Marathon in May.  I paid for the race last year when I was still  on that runner’s  high of the full marathon, when I thought only long distance was the way to go. I internally scoffed at 5K and 10K races – those weren’t for “real” runners like “we marathoners” (what the hell was going through my brain anyway?)

Well, I’m no longer feeling that way. The only time I really felt alive today was toward the end of the run, the “just shy of 6 miles” that I did, when I was running faster.  Let me put this out there:

1. Seeing my large gel bag this morning, and realizing I’d not had reason to use them for quite a while told me something.
2. I’m not liking the idea of running so long anymore that I have to carry the Camelbak on my back. I prefer to run without it now, and without the need to carry water.  I HATE carrying the water bottle in my hand, and please don’t tell me to use one of those belts. I did that for a 7.2 mile race last year and it was an absolutely horrible feeling, slip-sliding on my hips the entire way. HATED IT.
3. There’s  a really fast guy (actually there are a few of them in that “fastie  pack”) at my track practices, and I heard him say to someone a few weeks back that he never runs further than 5 miles (wasn’t sure if he meant just for his training runs or for races), and at the time I thought “really?!”  Now, I think, “maybe he’s got something.”
4. Real runners are what we think we are. There is NO right or wrong distance.  (And I hate Running Times for advertising tons just for marathons. It gives the impression to the average person that you’re not a real runner unless you’re considering a marathon.)
5. Running shorter distances, faster, does not make me less of a runner. It actually makes me happier. (I’m still not as speedy as others out there, but I am faster than I used to be, and I’ve worked hard to get to this point. I’m happy with how it feels to be running less than 10 minute miles.)
6.  I am starting to resent the time that it takes to do these longer runs. I am no longer looking forward to them, honestly, as the weekend approaches. I told Lis this, and she said, jokingly,  “that’s what you get for becoming a speed demon.”  :-)  
7. I do not want to resent anything about running.  Maybe it’s because I have a lot on my plate, but I want to not have to spend more than an hour of my day running.  I’d like to spend more of my time reading, writing, and with my husband since we’re both so busy during the week. I’ve been doing a lot of research lately for this article that M and I are trying to get published, and between the running and that, there has not been a lot of time for me to concentrate on my own fiction writing.  It’s not good to lose sight of your Most Important Tasks (I’ve begun reading the Zen Habits blog and his book, Less is More, can you tell?)  (Hat Tip to Kara, for turning me onto that blog.)
8. However, I’m feeling guilt. Guilt at having paid $50 to run the Half Marathon in Lehigh Valley. All  this week, I ignored the emails we got saying the deadline to switch down to the 5K was Friday, the 13th. Now, I’d like to, and it’s too late because both races are sold out.
9. However, I rationalize – if we don’t drive all the way down there at that time, we won’t spend as much money.  We can go another time when hotels are cheaper.
10. Can I be honest – I actually like coming in the top 25-30% or 40% in races – and lately I’ve been able to do that! Yes, they’ve been local races – we’re not running against elites, but I don’t really care!  The blog name still sticks, it’s just that I’m further up in the pack – and I like it! 

Do you see how I’ve been going back and forth in my mind all day? I need to remember, “we run for fun, right?”  Then why do I feel in a way like I am rebelling by turning my mind on distances longer than a 10K?

Maybe this should be my Season of Speed – as Alissa says, we go through seasons of running.  Or, put it another way, my Season of Short Distances?

By the way, I did take some pictures today – I will post them tomorrow. And if I go back next week, I’ll take some of the trails if they are not too muddy!

I’d say my title says it all – it was 23 degrees today when we got up, and Bill’s car said it was 21 degrees outside, AFTER the race.

As you can tell from some of the pictures, it was SNOWING, so I am not going to beat myself up with my results for today.  I just saw them on CoolRunning.   I am glad I felt like I finished the last mile pretty strong, particularly the last quarter mile, when I felt like I was almost going to throw up (sorry to be gross) at times. I can honestly say that the snow hurt when it hit my face at that point, and I tried to sprint as best as I could on the snow-covered street. 

I will say this about this race – people were really honest about where they lined up at the start line. In almost no time I found myself running around the same people as I did last week.  During the first mile, I set my sights on this lady I referred to in my mind as “Vest Woman.”  She beat me by about a half step last week and I think she is in my age group.  I made sure I beat her in the last quarter mile today!!  (It was good to see she’d slowed down too, I felt better seeing that.) 

• Place in my division: 27/112
• Place overall: 337/744

Time according to my Garmin was 36:39, and also I ran 4.07 miles, so it said I had a 9:00 average pace. Gotta get better at the tangents! Official time per the race gun (again, no timing mat at the beginning, just at the end) was 36:40, so a 9:10 pace.  I think I’ll go with my own watch today, thank you! 

This was not a race to set a PR.  Besides the ridiculous hill (you can tell by my mile pace times, in just which mile it hit, UGH), it was the type of snow that was starting to stick and I was worried about slipping and hurting myself.  Even the leaders (this was an out and back course so you got to see them,  always love those types of races) looked like they were putting on the brakes a bit coming down the hills.  Usually I think “Free Speed” as I come down them, but today I was thinking “please don’t fall, please don’t fall, please don’t fall.”

Here is what it said on the USATF Elevation Chart – I’m not sure how to read these, but I think it means PRETTY FREAKING STEEP.

Total climb: 163 feet / 50 m
Total elevation change: 326 feet / 99 m

My mile splits:

• 1st mile: 8:27 pace
• 2nd mile: 10:16 (godda*&$  f&*$%^ing hill…)
• 3rd mile: 8:40 pace
• 4th mile: 8:50 pace
• 5th lap – for a whopping 27 seconds, ran 6:14 pace.

I will not lie – I did get up a  portion of the second hill, but it was seriously so steep, I saw a lot of other people walking up it.  I figured it might be better for me to walk a bit, thereby saving myself some energy for the rest of the race.  I was a bit disappointed to see the official time clock say 28 minutes at mile 3, but with a hill like that, I was not completely surprised.

My friend Kara passed me somewhere between mile 1-2, right before the hill, and that was the  last time I ever saw her. She’s used to running hills much more than I am, since her town has a ton of them.  If I can’t do spring track because of the timing and location, I think my plan for the Lehigh Valley Half Marathon will be to run the hills in Winchester on Tuesday nights.  That course is sad to have a lot of them, and I need more practice than what I can get in the early mornings.

Anyway, I heard some good quotes today.  From a guy who was wearing shorts only on the bottom, “I can’t feel my legs!”  From Lis (hope I am remembering these accurately), who said “there’s a lot of good things about running, racing is not the only thing.” She also said “today is not the day to race for the best time, it’s about surviving.”

A few things I need to say about the Claddagh Pub. They had a very good setup after the race – lots of food, and lots of space to spread out. There were lines for the bathrooms of course, and of course I would have liked more, but I made sure to only stand in line once!  We didn’t have our names on our bibs, but I’ll take more food anyday!

Did I forget to add that we are supposed to get somewhere in the range of 15 inches tomorrow??  Why CAN’T WE GET A BREAK THIS WINTER??!!  We could finally see the grass on Friday, and I ran in 40+ temps! I even ran with just one layer!! AAGGGHHHHHH!!!

On a final note, I realized two things today. I think part of the reason I am enjoying the shorter races so much is because last year, all the focus was on training for the marathon. I couldn’t do a lot of shorter races because it was all about building distances, week after week, and it’d have been too hard to do a quick 5K the day after running 14 miles.  This year I have so much more freedom and I intend to enjoy it.

Oh, and also, at the urging of Jill, I decided to take the Runner’s World Natural Selection test. I scored 18 points, which says “I’m a speed racer.”  Well, I don’t know that I’d go that far but I do like the shorter distances. After this pub series is over, I”ll start to really ramp up my runs for the half marathon in May.  I think I have only two more weeks left of indoor track, so it looks like hill workouts are in my near future!