Did You Feel A Gust of Wind Blow By? Yeah, It Was Me

I am one happy runner. Did a 10-mile run this morning at an overall 8:35 pace. Flying for me. Did the first 4 at an 8:20 pace, slowed down a little for an average of 8:30 pace by mile 6, and slowed down a little more after that for the 8:35 pace finish. Still, I usually run closer to a 9-minute pace so I'm thrilled. And really, really tired. Pretty certain I see a nap in my near future. 

Hill Reconnaissance

I dragged Blair out for a walk yesterday to scope out potential hills near our home where I might do hill work on days I don't feel like driving into Greensboro. There are plenty of hills near where I live. The key is finding hills:

• Where the chance of hillbillys driving by in pick-ups and yelling "Whoooooooo--babeeeee!" are minimal.
• In an area where people prefer to follow town ordinances and have their wild-eyed, growling, leaping dogs on a leash versus standing on their front porch and yelling at me, "S'okay. He don't bite hardly never."
• With low enough traffic that exhaust isn't an issue, but enough cars around so that if someone thought about doing something funny to the running girl, they'd think twice.

Distance is also an issue. There are short, fast hills around here that meet the above criteria but I'd also like to find a half-mile incline to run. We scouted out a few possibilities yesterday. Enough so that I have no excuse not to go out and get some hill work done.

All that being said, I am loath to get out and run by myself. I've got friends in GSO willing to meet for runs, which is great. But on the days I just need to get in a few miles, I always turn to the treadmill. Perhaps a belated New Years resolution is for me to run outside by myself at least once a week.

There is a blond-haired woman I see running around town all the time. "You should talk to her," said Blair. I agree, but how? I usually see her from a window inside my house and I have to wonder what she might think if suddenly a strange woman burst from a home and started chasing her up the street.

It might work. I could have Blair stand on the porch and yell after us, "S' alright. She don't bite hardly never."

Cheers,

Dena

Training for a May Marathon - Alone

Received an e-mail this week from our trainer. She's starting a new marathon training program January 13th to prepare us for a spring marathon. I plan on running the United Healthcare Marathon on May 2nd.  But I don't think I'm going to particpate in the training.

I've been turning it over in my mind. I LOVE training with a group and the idea of everyone training without me already has me feeling sad and left behind. But here's the deal:

• Weekly runs are on Tues/Thurs nights. Tues is probably at the track but Thursday is likely on the roads, in the dark. Even with a headlamp, not my favorite type of running.
• Long runs are scheduled for Saturdays at 9 AM. I'm a morning runner. Having to wait around until 9 am to run not only trashes my entire morning, but a large chunk of my afternoon, especially when drive time home is factored in.
• Blair and I are traveling to Egypt in the Spring and will be taking Thursday night courses, so I can't attend at least half of the Thursday night runs anyway.
• And finally--I'm worried about burn-out. I run the May 2nd marathon b/c it's fun to run a local race. This is a hilly course (and probably hillier this year than last as the venue is being moved from GSO to High Point) so I don't run it with a time-goal in mind. I want to train hard for my fall marathon, and am concerned if I push myself to do full all-out training this spring AND summer, I'll just be sick of running by the time the fall marathon rolls around and not in a good mental state for it.

Last year we had a small group that self-trained for the May marathon. We did long runs together and ran hills once a week. We started training late, near the end of February, and still managed to be in decent shape for the race. So as much as I'd prefer to train with my group, I think I'm going to sit this one out. I'll need to push myself to run hills at least once a week, then I can do long runs either with the Blueliners (a group that meets every Saturday morning at 7:30 am and runs 8-12 miles) or call around and see who I can find. There's got to be some local runners training for this marathon who will need to get some long runs in. Or if I bring my own supplies, maybe the training group will let me sneak in with them for a couple of the longer runs. God forbid, I can try to run them by myelf, but that's a last ditch option. 18 miles all alone is not pretty.

Meanwhile, for anyone keeping score (Oh wait, that would be me) here are a couple of 2008 stats:

Total miles run in 2008: 1294.5

Total # of Yoga classes attended: 118

Wish I could push myself to pull out another 5.5 miles today for an even 1300 miles run, but it's not going to happen. Lots to do and I'm doing a 9 mile run tomorrow with the Blueliners to kick off the New Year. "9 at 9 (am) at the Blue line."

Wishing all of you a glorious end to 2008 and much happiness in 2009.

Dena

The Recovery Run

Went for a slow and easy 20 minute recovery run today. I'm thrilled with how quickly my legs have bounced back--virtually no stiffness at this point. Wish I could say the same for my feet. They look like something has been chewing on them. I had massive blood blisters on 4 toes and am limping around the house, trying not to put any pressure on the open wounds. Lovely.

Here are some race pictures taken by expert photographer Christine of Team Evolve. These are taken not even a quarter mile from the finish line. Check out the poor guy laying on the ground behind me in one of them. Apparently he fell a block or so back and hit his head, didn't remember doing that, got up and kept running, then collapsed on the ground almost directly in front of Blair and everyone from home. I love this sport!

 Throwing kisses

Poor guy on side of road. So close!